New Kingdom Come trademark filings mention 'online' virtual worlds—bu…

Last month, we covered Warhorse Studios' European trademark filings for Kingdom Come Salvation, which provided an early indication of what title we can expect for the third "Kingdom Come adventure" that Warhorse announced was in the works in May. Beyond the name, the filing featured tantalizing language about "services for matching users with computer games," leading to speculation that the next Kingdom Come could include online functionality.

This week, additional Kingdom Come Salvation trademark filings have emerged in the US (via Phrasemaker), containing expanded language about online services. But while it's tempting to read the trademark classification as a promise that there's jolly medieval Bohemian camaraderie in our future, we checked with a videogame IP expert who said we shouldn't get our hopes up.

In both the European and American trademark filings, the sections stirring up speculation are the goods and services classifications specified for the trademark. In addition to the IC 009 classification typically used for videogame trademarks, the filings also classify Kingdom Come Salvation under IC 041—a classification that the World Intellectual Property Organization says covers "services having the basic aim of the entertainment, amusement, or recreation of people," including online gaming services.

In the European filing, the language for the IC 041 classification is fairly general, referring to "online interactive entertainment" and "electronic games services provided by means of a global communication network." While the US filing uses similarly broad terms, it also includes these two eyebrow-raising service descriptions:

• Providing online computer games featuring virtual environments in which users can interact for entertainment purposes
• Providing online computer games featuring virtual worlds in which users can interact for entertainment purposes

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While neither of Warhorse's previous Kingdom Come trademark filings included IC 041 classifications, the Salvation filings are "far from a promise that the next Kingdom Come videogame will feature multiplayer," according to videogame IP lawyer Kirk Sigmon.

"As part of our usual cautiousness, IP attorneys generally try to make sure that we file trademarks in enough classes to cover a broad spectrum of how the mark might be used by the company, as well as in view of the fact that certain terms can be read broadly," Sigmon said. "In turn, you can find plenty of examples of non-multiplayer games registered in IC 041."

As an example, Sigmon—who previously walked us through the basics of videogame patent law in the early days of Nintendo's Palworld lawsuit—pointed out the trademark registration for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Despite being a purely singleplayer game, its filing similarly featured an IC 041 classification, with language referring to "providing online computer games featuring virtual worlds in which users can interact for entertainment purposes." It's beneficial for both a trademark's owner and their IP attorneys, he said, to give themselves as much rhetorical space to work with as possible.

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"One of the biggest reasons IP attorneys might register a singleplayer game that way (e.g., referencing a game being 'online') is that the term 'online video game' could be interpreted pretty broadly – for example, I might need to argue sometime in the future that distribution of a game via Steam and/or a game with downloadable DLC is, in some sense, 'online,'" Sigmon said. "Also, you never know if a game might go fully multiplayer in the future, so it helps to have that breadth. Along those lines, I’ve personally helped register trademarks in IC 041 for games that didn’t have traditional multiplayer components."

As for Kingdom Come Salvation, he said the filing could hint that the game "might be somehow online" in the broadest sense, but we shouldn't be holding our breath for any multiplayer features unless an official announcement materializes in the future.