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Half-Life 3 Trademark Filed In Europe
jones_supa writes "A trademark application for Half-Life 3, possibly the next entry in Valve's excruciatingly dormant Half-Life franchise, has been filed in Europe, according to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, the European Union's trademark and designs registry. The OHIM's database lists the Half-Life 3 trademark as owned by Valve Corporation, and filed on its behalf by Casalonga & Associés, a patent and trademark firm. The trademark covers 'computer game software,' 'downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices' and other goods and services. The application was filed on Sept. 29. There is no equivalent trademark on record at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office."
Half-Life 3 Confirmed
We'll be left with no speculationware to joke about pretty soon, looks like.
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Early HL3 for users.
I think HL3 might be used to launch steamOS, just like HL2 launched steam. Whether it will be exclusive to steamOS (like HL2 required steam), i have my doubts.
I believe that in IP law the trademark needs to actually be used sometime in the near future for it to be defensible. You can't just trademark a bunch of things for shits and giggles with no intention to use them. If you could, Valve would have trademarked HL3 a long time ago.
Now you're thinking with Portmans!
Very much looking forward to this :) Although I think I might be more excited about SteamOS in general than HL3.
People keep bringing that idea up, but it seems really stupid to me. Installing a new OS is a non-trivial task for most people, and even most PC gamers I think. Throw in dual-booting with an existing Windows installation and you might as well ask them to fly to the moon. Valve's whole business model, the reason people swallow their DRM without complaining, is based on making your games go from the storefront to installed in your library with a few mouse clicks, and then keeping them all in one place. Requiring a dual-booted OS just for one game is the antithesis of that. It's everything people hated about EA's Origin magnified tenfold. Valve knows better.
unless your george lucas
HL1 was great.
HL2 was okay. Episode 1 was poop. Episode 2 was okay.
HL3 will suck.
It all makes sense, of course. With each Half Life there's only half of the original(ity) left.
There is no equivalent trademark on record at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Maybe that's because their office is closed.
Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once
That being said, I'm pretty sure they already have a trademark on "Half-Life" and they really don't need to trademark the more specific Half-Life 3. It's not like you could just put out a game called "Half-Life 3" or "GTA 6" next month because the trademark holders on the previous game with a very similar title haven't bothered to file a trademark for the next game in the series.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
How much do you want to bet SteamOS can be launched via live CD? Who says that Live CD can't be the HL3 disc? Seems rather logical to me. If you get a digital download they could just put a "burn me a live CD" right in the steam client... or offer to install a boot loader for you. All very easy.
I've unlessed my george lucas, your move, creep!
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
Nothing. Patents and Trademarks are completely distinct things.
And when you consider the fact that one of the biggest draws of SteamOS is the streaming capability, having a low-powered ARM client actually makes sense.
Because patents are very time-limited and they come with public disclosure. You do understand that patents, copyrights, and trademarks are completely different, right?
I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
and actually... if they just create a holder page - give a press release or whatever - that is usage. maybe this means that in 5 years they announce it.
but like someone already commented they have half-life already covered for a game related use.
I've said it before and I'll say it again the problem with HL series is that it has no direction, nobody knows where the story is supposed to to go - nobody even inside valve knows the even the context of the story, background or anything. that's why hl2 and the episodes are so vague and why they had to resort to ending in middle of an explosion.. and why there's nobody in there with a passion for getting the story told(and the games out).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
I'm the parent poster and I'm one of them. I was a kid when HL1 was release and in Uni by HL2. Now I've got a job, family and less of an interest in gaming than I used to. The time-frame for when the franchise might have mattered has passed a lot of us now.
I hope they can get the same voice actor for Gordon.
You haven't used many live CDs have you? Yes you can run purely from the CD, and yes, then you can't save anything. But most allow you to save to hard disk just like any other OS. You can save your updates there, as well as your games. And the idea that "Messing around with the boot loader is not very easy" is just silly. every modern Linux distro out there offers to install a bootloader for you if you already have windows. It rarely causes problems and people who have no idea what they are doing successfully complete installs all the time.
Since this is the perfect opportunity to answer a question I had for aeons: Why do media companies have to register trademark for their numbered sequels of their already registered franchises?
It makes sense for a company like Square to trade mark a game like Chrono Cross (Chrono Trigger sequel) because its a different name. But for games like Half-Life, Final Fantasy, GTA, MGS, I just don't get it. If I, or anyone else no matter how rich, tried to independently release a game called Half-Life 3 I'm sure I'd taste GabeN's wrath, so why to spend money on that?
Chances are the trademark also includes unreported logos and new variations of wording. Also there is the reported updated usage wording which lawyers feel make it necessary.
[The Universe] has gone offline.
That's why Half-Life 3 can be produced now ;)