In what is probably the most disappointing news of the week, it appears the Half-Life 3 trademark that was registered on the Trademarks and Design Registration Office of the European Union (OHIM) was nothing more than a fake.
As Valve Time points out, the trademark has been removed, crushing the hopes of millions of gamers desperately waiting for a new installment in the insanely popular franchise. Searching OHIM for the same trademark (#01218039) results in a unsuccessful search.
The site reasons, and we agree, that the trademark listing was likely a hoax intended to generate fake buzz for the game. Unfortunately, this doesn't explain why Half-Life 3 appeared in images of Valve's internal development groups — unless those were fake too. I just don't know anymore.
What's even more odd, though, is that on October 2nd, a brand new trademark filing appeared on the same site, but htis time for Portal 3. Listed under trademark number "012190286," Valve Time points out that this listing appears "to have been appropriately examined by OHIM."
Make of all this what you will. I give up.
[NeoGAF]
