Good Luck to Any Company That Tries to Include “Cyberpunk” in Their IP

By this point, many in the gaming industry understand the veneration for CD Projekt RED. Creators of the Witcher series and the rising card game Gwent, as you know, are now locked in their production of Cyberpunk 2077. However, the gaming company is now turning a few heads with its trademark acquisition of CYBERPUNK. Considering the broad spectrum of work the name may cover, it seems as if CDPR is unlatching a hostile umbrella over a genre. But, there’s more to it.

Cyberpunk 2077 began development after the Polish company acquired rights to make video games based on Mike Pondsmith’s work, Cyberpunk 2013 and Cyberpunk 2020. Moreover, they acquired every other trademark Pondsmith had filed for. Taking possible rogue trademarks into consideration, CD Projekt RED had thus acquired CYBERPUNK in order to secure future titles.

What this means in the long-term: No other gaming company may use “Cyberpunk” as a name for their IP. However, CDPR states that the term may be used in a descriptive fashion. Even so, despite the implications of owning such an over-arching trademark name, they claim its acquisition is for self-preservation purposes. In more relevant terms, CD Projekt RED is so far along in developing Cyberpunk 2077 that they didn’t want to worry about losing the name or names of follow-ups. As buried as the message may be, it seems as if the company is preserving a franchise that may host sequels bearing the name “Cyberpunk.”

You can see CD Projekt RED’s full statement on the matter below:

What’s your takeaway from this statement and trademark acquisition? Let us know in the comments below. We know Cyberpunk 2077 is CD Projekt RED’s colossal undertaking. We know this because their biggest team yet is involved, because they’ve already stated it shall be much larger than Witcher 3, and because they’ve received additional funding from the Polish government in order to implement game-changing innovations.

For more news, updates, and revelations as they come our way, be sure to check back. Happy gaming.

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