Topic: Assassin - Title trademarked by Ubisoft for games, movies, and TV series

[MysterD]

The title "Assassin" has been trademarked by Ubisoft - for games, TV series, and movies.

"Assassin" Trademarked
   
[Oct 25, 2009, 1:33 pm ET]

Ubisoft has trademarked the title Assassin for video games and related projects, specifically: "Entertainment services namely providing an on-line computer game for others over global and local area computer networks and providing information on-line relating to computer games, video games and computer and video games related products; entertainment services namely television action series and the production of motion pictures."

This was spotted a few days ago by Destructoid, and we have been quite successful at unintentionally failing to post this until now.

[W7RE]

I still don't understand how companies are able to trademark normal english words, even ones that have been used in entertainment media before. I was baffled when Blizzard trademarked Diablo, and this is just as baffling. I heard that The Fast and The Furious was going to be called something with "Diablo" in the title, but had to change because of Blizzard. So why didn't Blizzard have to change their game name because of movies like El Diablo? Because they were the first to trademark it, not the first to use it?

[MysterD]

I still don't understand how companies are able to trademark normal english words, even ones that have been used in entertainment media before. I was baffled when Blizzard trademarked Diablo, and this is just as baffling. I heard that The Fast and The Furious was going to be called something with "Diablo" in the title, but had to change because of Blizzard. So why didn't Blizzard have to change their game name because of movies like El Diablo? Because they were the first to trademark it, not the first to use it?

I don't get it, either. Ubisoft is not trademarking a unique string of words used together here, but they're actually trademarking a single word that is commonly used in the English language. WTH?

So, I guess if there's a Velvet Assassin 2, maybe it'll be called just Velvet? Maybe that company (Replay Studios) will trademark the word Velvet? Though, who'd wanna trademark the word Velvet?

[Quemaqua]

It's this kind of thing that makes me hate business, America, the world, and pretty much everyone in general.

[idolminds]

Because they were obviously the first to use that word in a game title...

[Xessive]

Que's sentiments are shared here.

[MysterD]

It's this kind of thing that makes me hate business, America, the world, and pretty much everyone in general.

I was gonna trademark the word "Quemaqua"...

[Quemaqua]

I would find you and kill you.

[gpw11]

I still don't understand how companies are able to trademark normal english words, even ones that have been used in entertainment media before. I was baffled when Blizzard trademarked Diablo, and this is just as baffling. I heard that The Fast and The Furious was going to be called something with "Diablo" in the title, but had to change because of Blizzard. So why didn't Blizzard have to change their game name because of movies like El Diablo? Because they were the first to trademark it, not the first to use it?

That story probably isn't true or something is amiss along the way. Blizzard probably couldn't enforce that trademark across genres as it would be a subtitle, and as it wouldn't be upheld because it wouldn't create any confusion as to the source. Trademarks are usually pretty specific in that way, and although you might be able to get them registered, you'd never be able to enforce something like that. In the case of the Fast and the Furious, Lamborghini would have probably been the culprit...if it was true.

For Ubi-soft's thing, I'd put money on there being something huge left out of the story....like a graphic.

[Pugnate]

Because they were obviously the first to use that word in a game title...

OK makes sense.

[Pugnate]

That story probably isn't true or something is amiss along the way. Blizzard probably couldn't enforce that trademark across genres as it would be a subtitle, and as it wouldn't be upheld because it wouldn't create any confusion as to the source. Trademarks are usually pretty specific in that way, and although you might be able to get them registered, you'd never be able to enforce something like that. In the case of the Fast and the Furious, Lamborghini would have probably been the culprit...if it was true.

For Ubi-soft's thing, I'd put money on there being something huge left out of the story....like a graphic.

Something interesting is why we can't see a GTA movie, and why we probably never will. "Grand Theft Auto" has already been trademarked as some old movie or something.

[MysterD]

Something interesting is why we can't see a GTA movie, and why we probably never will. "Grand Theft Auto" has already been trademarked as some old movie or something.

Ron Howard's film?
Never saw it.