Another nail in the coffin for Hammerpoint's The War Z. The game has been without a trademark since mid-November.
Sorting through the legalese in a letter from U.S. Patent and Trademark office, the trademark was suspended as the office thought it sounded too similar to the book and upcoming Paramount movie, "World War Z." If the trademark attorney feels the names are indeed too similar, it's possible that Paramount could forrbid the use of the name The War Z, and Hammerpoint may have to change the name of the game alltogether. Paramount does have plans for creating a game based on the movie.
The War Z's executive producer, Sergey Titov, has since responded to the suspension on the game's official forums, saying the suspension is meaningless as the trademark is still live. While it's true that the trademark is indeed live, it's still under probation, and Hammerpoint has a period of 90 days from the issue of suspension in which to respond.
The new comes after The War Z was pulled from Steam after several complaints arose about the severe lack of features Hammerpoint promised to have in the game, enough so that several gamers went so far as to accuse the developer of fraud.
Titov nor Hammerpoint have yet to give a statement as to what their response will be to the Patent and Trademark Office before the probation period is up, Feb. 13, 2013.
