EA’s upcoming game, Unravel was denied a United States patent for its name. Apparently, the new video game bears far too much similarity to a rather old board game that is called Beary’s Unravel. That game has to do with kids studying the continuity of string. The United States patent office thinks this is close enough to a video game about a little person that is actually made up of yarn, who goes on an adventure through the woods.
“When comparing marks, the test is not whether the marks can be distinguished in a side-by-side comparison, but rather whether the marks are sufficiently similar in terms of their overall commercial impression that confusion as to the source of the goods and/or services offered under the respective marks is likely to result.” The USPTO said according to a Neogaf user who was able to stumble across the actual explanation as to why Unravel couldn’t get its patent here in the US.
There was some talk that EA might have to go as far as to change the name of the game. That would be a bit difficult considering it’s just a few weeks from hitting store shelves. Whether it was because the company is getting ready to release the game or because it just isn’t that worried about the patent, EA said it won’t be changing the name. Gamewatcher got an official statement from the company saying, “”The trademark application does not impact the game title of Unravel, and we’re looking forward to the game launching on February 9.” While the full game is coming to the Xbox One and PC on February 9, EA Access members will get to play the first two levels five days earlier on February 4.
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