Here’s the contest (no prize except everlasting eternal fame… you know, if you’re into that kind of thing).
- Each day, go to the US Patent and Trademark Office website.
- From the menu on the left, click “Trademarks” and from the popup menu, choose “Search TM database (TESS)”
- Select “Freeform Search”
- Enter “Sony Online Entertainment”[ON] AND “Everquest II”[WM] into the search field and Submit Query.
- Look for an expansion aside from RoK, KoS and EoF. Desert of Flames apparently was not trademarked.
- Post it everywhere — you have just discovered the new EQ2 expansion!
This works for other games, too!
Due to the oddities of the USPTO website, you might miss some matches, so it’s best to just look for SOE without the game name and pore through the lists. Note that some unfamiliar titles like “EVERQUEST EVOLUTION” or “EVERQUEST ATTACK ON QEYNOS” may be for omnibus collections or undeveloped expansions. “EVERQUEST WAR ON FAYDWER” may have been a proposed name for the “Secrets of Faydwer” EQ1 expansion.
Also, there’s a chance that future trademarks could be registered by SCEI, especially if they wanted to be sneaky about it. That’s why it’s a contest! Try “Sony Computer Entertainment”[ON] AND “Everquest”[WM] to try and catch them at that game.
Tipa,
You’re giving away the farm!
In all seriousness, I’ve been doing this forever and it just never occured to me to post the step-by-step instructions out publically. Good show, old bean.
While searching, you can also use the “[FD]” (Filing Date) switch, especially against “2008????” to find out if they choose to assign the TM to something other than “Everquest II” (which is what they did with Desert of Flames back in ’05, actually).
This is also how I found “Legends of Norrath” last year. Obviously, had I used just “Everquest II” with the [WM] switch, I would never have seen it.
Also, if you’re going to use this for other games, remember that LucasArts owns the trademarks on their properties (not Bioware or SOE) and that Tolkien Enterprises owns the TM’s on Lord of the Rings Online (not Turbine).
I just search on “EverQuest” for all fields, active and dead, and it only brings up 29 results, so I keep the search simple.
Now, will Sony do what they did with the upcoming Indiana Jones movie and trademark a few decoy names?
(My favorite “EverQuest” result on the list is “EverQuest:The Demise of Aradune.”)
The Demise of Aradune should be a VANGUARD expansion.
(ooooh, booo hissssss, yeah I know, low blow).
Did anyone else find these on the list? Probably fake, but I thought them very odd:
EverQuest:The Rape of Firiona
EverQuest:Let’s Blow Up Kaladim
EverQuest:Return of Nil Shards
EverQuest:Everybody Poops
EverQuest:Plane of Yanni
EverQuest:Gender Swap
EverQuest III:Even Less Finished
Heheh, you’ll be waiting for a bit longer, since they’re still only now trying to nail down a name for the expansion. I’ve heard of a couple here recently being tossed around the office, but nothing’s in stone about it, yet. Sure, they (the team) knows what they’re working on, but a name isn’t something that’s made until a lil’ further in the process.
Keep watch over these next few weeks, though.
~Gnobrin!
Heh 🙂 Oh, we will!
My pick: Everquest II: Spirits of the Shattered Moon
Because the next expansion is on what remains of Luclin, right? 😛