It appears as though Electronic Arts has gotten themselves into bind when it comes to their upcoming game Unravel. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has denied EA's trademark application for Unravel in view of the fact that a game called Unravel already exists.
EA did not respond to the USPTO's denial of their trademark application for Unravel. Their inaction has caused the two trademarks for Unravel that they had applied for to be termed as 'abandoned' by the USPTO.
Who owns the trademark for Unravel? A board game company called SimplyFun, that created a children's game titled 'Beary's Unravel Game' using the trademark. The game focuses on wound up kite strings and colorful pinwheels, so, the similarities between EA's Unravel and the board game are the fact that both have string,share a name, and are games – albeit entirely different games.
It was the " likelihood of confusion" that cause the USPTO to deny it.
EA will either have to change the name of their game, add a subline or pay SimplyFun to abandon their trademark.
[Thank you NeoGaf]
