Over the past week, it came to the gaming world’s attention that CD Projekt RED, developer of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, was trying to trademark the word “Cyberpunk”. This is due to its next big release being Cyberpunk 2077. Naturally, this raised concerns, especially when you consider past similar incidents.
The developer took to Twitter to address these concerns and noted, “We want to protect our hard work and we don’t plan on using the trademark offensively – It’s a self-defense measure only.”
Essentially, it doesn’t want there to be a naming scheme similar to “Cyberpunk 2077” and it was noted that the trademarks owned by the author of the Cyberpunk universe have also been purchased. “A trademark is not a copyright or patent – these are totally different rights and they should not be confused.”
While this could prevent other titles from using the word “Cyberpunk” for their games, CD Projekt RED said that, “The role of the trademark is only to protect words, signs used as titles of games, names of products etc. If someone names their game ‘John Smith: Adventures in a Cyberpunk Society’ or ’20 Short Video Games Set In Cyberpunk Worlds’ none of them should be treated as infringement of our rights.
“This is because, despite being part of the title, there is no risk that consumers would associate these games with CD Projekt.”
Still, what are your thoughts on all this? Let us know in the comments.