A new conversation appeared on NeoGaf earlier today, reporting that Blizzard have stumbled upon an expected problem with the US Patent & Trademark Office regarding their attempt to secure and trademark the name Overwatch, the current title of their upcoming online shooter.
According to the report all attempts to secure the trademark have been ceased following the discovery of another application that would be infringed upon should the current attempts from Blizzard get accepted. The previous trademark was issued 6 months prior to Blizzard attempting to trademark Overwatch.
Yesterday, on January 9, 2015, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) sent to Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. a suspension letter for trademark applications 86239314 and 86239318, both connected to the new team-based shooter Overwatch which was revealed at BlizzCon 2014. This action by the USPTO stems from an issue brought to attention in July last year where it was found that the filing date of U.S. Application Serial No. 86056160, Overwatch by Innovis Labs, Inc., preceded Blizzard’s filing date and thus was subject for a likelihoof confusion (the prior application is under goods and services related to game software and similar). Blizzard appears to have made no attempts to present any arguments as to why their application should not be refused, and thus it has been suspended.