Sony and developer Shift Up are being sued by Louisiana-based movie manufacturing firm Stellarblade, which – in case you have not already guessed the place that is going – is alleging trademark infringement following the discharge of this yr’s PS5 action-adventure Stellar Blade.
As reported by IGN, the criticism was filed in a Louisiana courtroom earlier this month by Stellarblade LLC and its proprietor, Griffith Chambers Mehaffey. It is particularly focusing on Sony, Shift Up, and and Sony’s unnamed legal responsibility insurance coverage firm, amid claims Stellarblade’s enterprise (that is the movie firm) is being broken by Stellar Blade (the sport’s) use of the identify.
Stellarblade was established to offer “multimedia leisure providers” – together with movie, documentary, and music video manufacturing – in 2010, and Mehaffey is alleged to have owned the area stellarblade.com since 2006. Within the criticism, Mehaffey claims his clients have been unable to simply discover details about his enterprise on-line for the reason that recreation previously often called Challenge Eve was re-revealed below the identify Stellar Blade in 2021.
In a press release offered to IGN, Mehaffey’s lawyer expanded on the latter level, including, “The defendants’ far superior assets have successfully monopolised on-line search outcomes for Stellarblade, pushing Mr. Mehaffey’s long-established enterprise into digital obscurity and threatening the livelihood he is constructed over greater than a decade.”
Mehaffey additionally argues Shift Up and Sony’s Stellar Blade trademark (filed in January 2023) is “confusingly related” to his personal Stellarblade trademark (filed in June 2023), citing related color schemes and a stylised ‘S’. He is in search of damages and lawyer charges if his authorized motion is profitable, and is requesting Shift Up and Sony be prevented from utilizing Stellar Blade or every other related identify sooner or later – and that every one Stellar Blade materials of their possession is handed over to be destroyed.
Eurogamer’s Jessica Orr fairly favored Stellar Blade when it launched earlier this yr, celebrating its “moreish fight and bizarrely interesting lack of character” in her 4 star evaluation.
