Update (18/1/24): Remedy has reached out to Game File reporter Stephen Totilo with a statement about the logo dispute between it and Rockstar. In a nutshell, it's nothing to worry about:
A representative of the studio said: "...this was a discussion between [Remedy and Take-Two] that was resolved entirely and amicably late last year. The legal filing was simply an initial formality, and Remedy and Take-Two continue to work together in partnership."
That's that, then. Carry on!
Original Story: Can you claim the rights to a single letter? Take-Two certainly seems to be trying, as it's reportedly in a dispute with Remedy Entertainment over the letter 'R'.
Remedy changed its logo last year, from the old R featuring a bullet to the new design. This was in order to "bring more consistency" across all its titles. When it filed trademarks for two variations (one with the Remedy name beneath and one without), Take-Two apparently issued a dispute, and it's one that's yet to be resolved. That's according to RespawnFirst.
The publisher's reasoning for the trademark dispute boils down to "a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public", undoubtedly referring to the logo of Rockstar Games — also a stylised 'R'.
Of course, there's a clear difference between the two logos, and many people would easily be able to pick out the Rockstar logo in a lineup. It seems to be more of a struggle for Take-Two, or perhaps just its legal team, but who are we to judge?
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see whether this results in another logo revamp for Remedy, or the whole thing eventually goes away. What do you think of this issue? Does Take-Two have a point about the two logos, or is this all a little bit silly? Tell us in the comments section below.
[source respawnfirst.com, via gamesindustry.biz, x.com]
Comments 58
An idiot says......
If Rockstar wins then they should have to pay that Joker dude.
Hey, Rockstar! If you're having difficulty telling the logos apart, I'll give you a hint.
Yours is the one with the star, you're welcome.
One has two R’s the other is an R with a star at the bottom of the logo
I didn't think you could trademark letters. Sesame Street is going to be in trouble lol
The mixup is totally understandable…if you’re three sheets to the wind.
Judge declares that as they're fighting over an "R", neither of them get to use it...
The two R logos are more likely to confuse younger folks, especially with how brands have been going simple with the logo nowadays (Bandai Namco, for example).
Idiotic. I mean it literally says Remedy under the logo.
For a company whose games feature some truly wonderful art design, Remedy seems to struggle with making an appealing logo. To be fair, though, it is better than the 90’s iteration that made me a bit queasy.
R u crazy remedy.come on playya dont be r ockstar been having that logo for a while.word up son
It makes me feel slightly better for all the times I opened the PayPal app when I actually wanted to open the PlayStation app.
Interesting Rockstar are taking legal action against a developer that's creating a game for them, Max Payne Remake
@BigJoze perhaps it will get cancelled over this dispute?
What a terrible company.
Just wait until they find out there's an energy drink called rockstar 🫣
Take 2 take 0 prisoners
I think they should sue McDonald's. Whilst their logo isn't a single "R", it is a single letter, therefore people may get confused
On principle I just always disagree with anything Take 2 believes. Scummy company.
@Porco I hope not, I'm looking forward to it
Really dislike the Remedy logo, but Rockstar are on a hiding to nothing with this. They look nothing alike. I thought the new Remedy logo had their name written below the letter R though. At the most i can see them being obligated to do that in future to avoid confusion
Could you be less stereotypical than "big bad company is litigious"? C'mon Take Two, that's pathetic.
The capital R is iconic so I get Rockstar.
Take Two back at it again with their dumb name lawsuits. First the lawsuit against the game “It Takes Two” and now “R”.
They just want to own the R themselves. Nothing else to it.
Clutching at straws
So the capital R is only reserved for Rockstar ?? wat??
Seems kind of pointless to argue over. Rare has a giant “R” for their logo as well, should they get involved? There are so many years of logos, you’re bound to have a logo that resembles another.
Everyone getting mad at Rockstar but from a legal standpoint this makes perfect sense. Trademark is only protectable as long as you are willing to protect it. It is likely that Rockstar doesn't even care about the outcome of this case. Trademark law is deceptively complicated but when you are a company worth as much as Rockstar... yea you try and have no one in a related business with even a remotely similar trademark.
Corpo rats.
I hate take two with passion. Rockstar selling themselves to them is the worst thing that ever happened to them. But honestly it's the Strauss that ruined it.
Pretty sure Nissan got there first with the Type R logo. Or possibly the Alphabet Guy with, you know, ‘R’.
Hey Take Two. Rare says hi!
Americans....not beating those stupidity allegations are they
This is how little take two/rockstar think of us, the consumers. They are trying to argue that we will be incapable of distinguishing between these two completely different logos and we may end up buying a Remedy game instead of one of the 2 original games Rockstar have published since 2013.
Indeed, I'm already confused.😵 Which of these R logos belongs to the company named "RockSTAR", again?😵
Lol this is a dumb dispute. Can't claim copyright of a single letter.
While it's clear to us which is which, the way the R is written looks quite similar, both black, bold with a similar font. More casual players could mix them up (although I'm not sure casual players care about who is making the game).
@Splat If they win Microsoft should go after them, Rockstar was created after Rare.
@EvilSilentFrame Rare logo came first in fact.
Takes-Two brain cells to see the difference, maybe T-T should change their name, any recommendations?
Or they buy the whole alphabet, they drown in money.
One makes amazing games, the other makes Grand Theft Auto.
Pretty easy to tell them apart.
Looks like they don't have a case to me. They cannot claim ownership of a letter and there is no star on the remedy one.
Looks to me like they can't tell their R's from their elbow...
Apple doing this to a wine coin France 180 years in business or something and apple is sueing for the use of an apple icon 🤣🤦
That’s stretching it a bit
Can't imagine being one of the lawyers who pull such garbage constantly. Couldn't live with myself.
@Americansamurai1 You can trademark pretty much anything that is associated with your branding. This is why Disney recently started using the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey in the opening credits of their films; they were trying to get around the fact that the copyright on that version of the mouse was going to expire a few years down the line (as it recently did). I've heard of companies obtaining trademarks on particular colour hexcodes, scents, images, phrases, you name it. As it is an IP without an expiry date, a trademark can be very valuable.
@Pete_Stooge I thought nobody would side with R* but here I am seeing people defending this nonsense.
@RenanKJ If you are blind then I can see that would mix them up....
@InsaneWade Damn we got a bleak future if the new generation is this dumb. I think you should give them more credit and believe they will be able to distinguish these two different logos.
@Flaming_Kaiser wow, three people offended with one strike. Nice one! It's obvious you're here for the fun.
There is no Remedy for STAR shaped stupidity
Well at least this was resolved between the two firms without becoming some big legal battle.
I guess this is what happens when an article on some other site goes up using 4 or 5 month old quotes to write about it as if it is breaking news, and PushSquare uses that as as a source for its own news section 🙃
Like I said, part of trademark is actively showing you are trying to protect that trademark. You have to do these filings. Rockstar and take-two got dogpiled in comments over nothing.
@Flaming_Kaiser people with an understanding of trademark law would side with rockstar and would have guessed nothing would happen here.
@Flaming_Kaiser My line of thinking was more towards younger kids thinking they're the same company and believing they had a change of logo at first glance if they just started getting into gaming. There are young gamers currently who have no idea what Tomb Raider is from some comments I read on Twitter, for one example on the level of ignorance.
@InsaneWade Then it's a good thing both studios make games for 16 and up. 😅
Every teenager knows R* and if they say they don't then its to be edgy.
I think all true rockstars should come together in a class action against R*. Come on Bono and Paul!
One of the legal requirements for holding a trademark is that you must show that you have made efforts to defend it against infringements to maintain the exclusive right to use it. The simplest and strongest way to do this, even in perfectly amicable relations, is to officially file a complaint against the other party and then immediately follow it with a filing that says you’ve come to an agreement with them. Without context, it can look like you’re “suing” them, but in reality both lawyers on both sides already had agreed to not do anything. This sounds like precisely what happened here.
Think of it this way - pretend that your city dedicates a public parking lot to you, and you can park as many cars as you want there, and keep other people out. There’s one catch - if they find that you haven’t shown a reasonable effort to keep random people from parking there, they’ll take it back and you don’t get to use it anymore. Your friend wants to park there, so you call the cops and officially file a report that says “He is parking in a restricted space, but I am allowing him to do it for now”.
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