UPDATE: Following the publication of this story, Sony has since filed for a petition revive the abandoned trademark application, which can be found here.

The original story follows below.

The Last Guardian's trademark in the US has been abandoned, but it appears this was due to an administrative error at PlayStation America, as Sony has confirmed to GameSpot that the project is still in development.

According to documentation on the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the group sent Sony a notice in July last year, informing that the trademark needed to be extended.

Although Sony has, since 2013, habitually extended the game's trademark, it made no action following the most recent request. As such, the trademark was cancelled.

However, amid speculation surrounding what this means for the protracted and troubled project, Sony has told GameSpot that it "can confirm that the Last Guardian is still in development".

The Last Guardian has now been in development for more than half a decade after being formally announced in 2009, though director Fumito Ueda said his creative contribution to the project was completed a "long time ago."

The most recent news surrounding The Last Guardian was revealed in December last year, when Ueda said in an interview that the game was moving forward under "completely new conditions."

It's possible Ueda was referring to the game transitioning from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4. The Last Guardian was initially announced back in 2009 as a PS3 title, though Sony has dodged questions about platforms ever since.