Take-Two files trademark dispute against Remedy over its new logo (Update)

[Update: According to a statement made to IGN, the dispute between Take-Two and Remedy was “resolved amicably late last year.”

According to IGN, Remedy said, “Unfortunately, it took a little longer to complete than we had hoped due to some holiday scheduling. The legal filing was simply an initial formality, and Remedy and Take-Two continue to work together in partnership.”

Yeah, I mean, considering Rockstar is reportedly remaking the first two Max Payne games alongside Remedy, you would certainly hope that they could come to some sort of agreement. Our original story follows.]

As reported by RespawnFirst, Take-Two, the parent company of Rockstar Games, has filed a trademark dispute against Remedy Entertainment over the latter’s new logo.

The application was made in April 2023, shortly after Remedy revealed their new logo, and appears to still be ongoing as of writing. It currently looks like Take-Two has not followed through with a lawsuit, and it’s unclear if they have any intention of doing so. It seems more like Take-Two is trying to pre-emptively protect their claim to, uh… the capital R.

Take-Two has been aggressive in protecting its trademarks in the past, including over the use of the letter R in a logo and merely the word “Rock Star.” This kind of stands out since it’s against the developer of Alan Wake 2, which won many awards last year and is in the public consciousness.

Another notable example of this is the 2021 co-op title, It Takes Two. The developer of that game had to drop their trademark on the name after Take-Two disputed its use of the words “Take(s) Two”.

It’s also, in my opinion, ridiculous. The logos aren’t really that similar. They both feature a long capital R, and that’s about it. The fonts are different, they’re stylized in different ways, and the Rockstar logo has a star on it. I’m more likely to get Rockstar confused with Rockstar Energy Drinks, which apparently are unrelated. But then, Take-Two sometimes waves the trademark stick at PepsiCo, as well.

Again, this application may not go anywhere, but Remedy still has to oppose it if they want to maintain the trademark on their logo.