The McArthur Law Firm, which specializes in video game law, is making a show of formally protesting Sony Computer Entertainment’s recent attempt to trademark the term “Let’s Play.”
The interesting bit here is that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office actually rebuffed Sony’s initial attempt, but McArthur is claiming that it was for a weak reason — namely that Sony’s “Let’s Play” trademark was deemed too easily confused with similar trademarks, rather than that the term itself is too generic to be trademarked.
“In the Letter of Protest filed today by The McArthur Law Firm, we presented the USPTO with over fifty examples of how Let’s Play has become ‘generic,'” reads an excerpt of the firm’s blog post detailing its actions. “We believe that the USPTO will review the evidence we submitted and come to the same conclusion as thousands of gamers: that the term ‘Let’s Play’ is generic and that Sony should not have exclusive rights over it.”
The post goes on to claim that such a letter is part of a formal procedure that empowers a third party to submit additional evidence for the USPTO to consider before it approves and publishes a trademark. Though Sony’s initial effort has been rebuffed, it has six months to respond before a final refusal is issued.
It’s worth noting also that McArthur Law Firm was founded by Gamasutra blogger (and onetime contributor) Stephen McArthur.