The internet has been abuzz with the news that Sony’s highly anticipated game ‘The Last Guardian’ lost it’s IP rights. On a status update by Trademarkia, we saw “On Monday, August 6, 2012, status on the The Last Guardian trademark changed to Abandoned – No Statement of Use Filed.”
The Last Guardian has had a rocky development, with multiple delays and both the producer and director leaving (the latter of which has staying on “committed to completing” the game in a freelance role) and still no release date on the horizon. The game hasn’t been shown since before 2011′s Tokyo Game Show.
However this status of ‘Abandoned’ does not mean the game has been cancelled. Gameinformer’s Jim Reilly has spoken to Eric Chad, an intellectual property attorney at the law firm of Merchant & Gould on the issue. He stated that it simply means Sony trademarked the title with an ‘intent to use’ application, showing they would like to use it for commercial purposes in the near future. After a certain time (typically one year) you have to show that you have put it to commercial use. Obviously they haven’t so were unable to file the ‘Statement of Use’ as seen in the Trademarkia status. It still means they can renew their application, or even release without an application and would still be able to sue for infringement if they could prove they use that title commercially first.
Sony, when asked about this, declined to rumor on comment or speculation but for now it seems it is still in development.
Source: Playstation Lifestyle
S#*! TALKING CENTRAL