Update: Remedy says its letter R logo dispute with Take-Two was "resolved entirely and amicably" last year
"There is nothing to see here."
Update 18/01/24, 15:00 PM: Remedy has issued a response to the reported trademark dispute between it and Take-Two, stating that the two parties resolved the issue in late 2023. "There is nothing to see here – this was a discussion between our teams that was resolved entirely and amicably late last year," the developer said, adding: "The legal filing was simply an initial formality, and Remedy and Take-Two continue to work together in partnership."
Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, is reportedly in a trademark dispute with Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment, with the former having claimed that the latter’s logo featuring the letter R resembles its own.
This has resulted in Take-Two opposing the trademarks filed by Remedy for two different logo designs via the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, as you can see noted on the listings here and here. It’s an interesting situation to say the least, given that the companies entered an agreement to work together to facilitate remakes of the first two Max Payne games just last year.
The notices revealing Take-Two’s opposition to the two trademarks linked above were spotted by RespawnFirst, which has reported that Take-Two’s opposition stems from the fact it believes “there exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public” regarding Remedy’s logos and its own.
The logo trademarks in question were both filed by Remedy on 11 May, 2023 and both have been opposed by Take-Two, with RespawnFirst alleging that the disputes were filed around the time in April 2023 when Remedy revealed the logo in question.
We’ve reached out to Rockstar Games, Remedy, and the UK Intellectual Property Office - whose website the trademark listings and the record of their dispute by Take-Two is hosted on - with the aim of getting some additional context on where this legal situation between the two parties currently stands.
This article will be updated as soon as is possible if/when we receive any responses or comments from either side.
In a blog post surrounding the reveal of the logo design involved in the dispute, Remedy communications director Thomas Puha wrote that: “It was time to update and redefine our visual identity to bring more consistency, showcase our evolution over the years, and better express our vision of today’s Remedy.”
It added: “The bullet in the letter R in the old logo represented the era of Max Payne, but the Remedy of now is much bigger than a single game; we have a whole portfolio of games, new and old.”
Late last year, Remedy offered a positive update on its remakes of the first two Max Payne games via a financial review, revealing that they had “progressed into the production readiness stage”.