Sony’s attempt to trademark the term ‘Let’s play’ was met with a rather muted response online, surprisingly enough- you just know that if Nintendo or Microsoft had attempted it, they would have been met with massive amounts of backlash.
Nevertheless, online response notwithstanding, it is clear that the US Patent and Trademark Office was having none of that nonsense, as they didn’t accept the application- they did, however, give Sony six months to justify their trademark.
Meanwhile, other people have taken the initiative in this period to demonstrate exactly why Sony’s application should not be accepted. We’ve already reported on some of these attempts- and now, the USPTO has admitted another two Letters of Protest that seek to prove that the trademark is “merely descriptive or generic-” meaning that the letters establish that the term is widely enough used to not be retroactively trademarked, since it has no association with the applicant in this case. The admittance of these letters indicates that the USPTO considers them relevant to the case at hand.
Hopefully this application falls through- it’s really shamefully transparent, and it being accepted would illuminate all that is wrong with current IP law.
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