Recently CD Projekt Red registered a trademark on “CYBERPUNK” which caused negative PR for the usually beloved company. Many felt that trademark may negatively effect the cyberpunk genre or could be abused however CD Projekt issued a statement to clarify the trademark and their intentions.
CD Projekt Red states “we wish to protect our hard work and we don’t plan on using the trademark offensively” and that the move was purely defensive. If they did not register the trademark another company could and then prevent CD Projekt Red from working on expansions or future games with the same name. They also point out that the trademark had already been registered by R. Talsorian Games who own the CYBERPUNK 2013 and CYBERPUNK 2020 pen&paper games which the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 is based on. CD Projekt Red merely obtained the trademark from R Talsorian games and has already held the same trademark in the U.S since 2011.
The trademark does not give CD Projekt Red the ability to shutdown any kind of content in the cyberpunk genre unless it is used in business and refer to items covered by the trademark. Another game could even use cyberpunk in the title if it is not confused or associated with the game or games CD Projekt Red makes. The word can also still be used freely as a description for any game.
Their full statement can be read here.
