Trenched trademark battle promises to rage on
After about two weeks of silence coming from the trademark holder’s camp, details finally emerge on why Trenched hasn’t yet released in Europe and how long the holdup may take. Unfortunately, board game designer Rui Alípio Monteiro made it very clear to Eurogamer that he is not only holding the Trench (and subsequently derivatives like Trenched) trademark because of his physical board game but for the sake of an in-development video game adaptation of the property.
Microsoft has yet to comment on this situation, but it has also been revealed that Monteiro owns the trademark internationally. It’s not clear why the distribution wasn’t halted in the United States and it also remains to be seen whether or not Microsoft will fight in a court of law over the name or simply rename Double Fine’s latest Xbox Live Arcade title. More as it develops.
Source: Eurogamer