Rockstar / Remedy "R Logo" Trademark Dispute

Submission 2,234

Overview

Rockstar / Remedy "R Logo" Trademark Dispute refers to a trademark dispute filed by Take-Two Interactive against the video game company Remedy Entertainment, claiming that the "R" logo for Remedy created in May 2023 is too similar to the logo of the company it owns, Rockstar Games. Though the dispute was filed in September 2023, it was discovered in January 2024 online, at which point social media users began to mock Take-Two, as they believed the two logos looked nothing alike and joked that the company was trying to trademark the letter "R."

Background

In May 2023, Remedy Entertainment (makers of video games including Alan Wake and Control), revealed a new logo for the company.^[1]^[7] The logo is a fractured, white "R" against a black background (shown below).

In September 2023, Take-Two Interactive, the owners of Rockstar Games, then filed a trademark dispute over Remedy's new logo, saying it was too similar to the Rockstar logo (Rockstar logo shown below).

The dispute didn't start becoming common knowledge online until January 15th, 2024, when it was tweeted about by Twitter / X user @usemyhandle^[2] (shown below), gaining 10 retweets and 19 likes in one day, which was subsequently written about in RespawnFirst.^[3]

Developments

As the Respawn First article spread on social media, numerous users and gaming journalists^[4] poked fun at Take-Two, feeling the logos didn't look alike and joking that Take-Two was trying to "trademark the letter R." For example, on January 16th, 2024, Twitter user @that1detectiv3^[5] called Take-Two a "scummy" company, pointing out that Rockstar is working with Remedy on Max Payne remakes, and joked that the company was trying to trademark the letter R, gaining over 112 likes in less than an hour (shown below, left).

Around the same time, Twitter user @JayWood2010^[6] made a similar joke about the company suing over "the letter R," gaining 20 likes in less than an hour (shown below, right).