Earlier today, Ubisoft came across a new ‘out of the blue’ obstacle to overcome and continue with the development of Watch Dogs. A request for the abandonment of the Watch Dogs trademark surfaced, though Ubisoft confirms that such a request wasn’t issued by the consent of the company and it is a case of a fraud.
While the request for the abandonment is a fact, Ubisoft has now forwarded a petition to the director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, requesting the authority to not abandon the trademark.
Ubisoft wrote, “On February 1, 2014, Ubisoft Entertainment received an email from TEAS@uspto.gov notifying Ubisoft Entertainment that a Request for Express Abandonment had been filed in connection with Application Serial No. 85642398. The Request for Express Abandonment purports to be signed by the Chief Executive Officer of Ubisoft Entertainment, Yves Guillemot.”
“Mr. Guillemot, however, did not sign the Request for Express Abandonment, nor did Ubisoft Entertainment file the Request for Express Abandonment. The Request for Express Abandonment is fraudulent and was not filed by Ubisoft Entertainment or its representative.”
Ubisoft has told the press, “We are working directly with the USPTO on reinstating the trademark for Watch Dogs and it will be active again in the coming days. The matter has no impact on the Watch Dogs‘ development.”
So it is nothing to worry for all Ubisoft fans as Watch Dogs is still in development after a delay in 2013 and is currently set to release in the Q2 of 2014 for PS4, PS3 and other platforms.