In brief: Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Games, two of the biggest names in the video game industry, are at war over the former's new logo. Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company, has filed a trademark dispute against Remedy over its rebranded 'R' logo that was released last year, claiming it looks too similar to Rockstar's.
Finnish firm Remedy, the company behind the Alan Wake and Max Payne franchises, Control, and Quantum Break, changed its logo for the first time in 20 years back in April 2023. It said the "bullet in the letter R in the old logo represented the era of Max Payne," and that it no longer represented the company and its wide portfolio of games.
Take-Two wasn't happy with what it claims are similarities between Remedy's new logo and Rockstar's. As reported by RespawnFirst, Take-Two filed a trademark dispute in the United Kingdom and EU, alleging that Remedy's logo is likely to cause "confusion on the part of the public."
The Verge reports that in the EU case, both parties have asked for an extension to the two-month "cooling off period." Adversarial proceedings won't go ahead until at least September 7th, 2025, unless the companies agree to settle the dispute before then.
Remedy's logo
What's especially unusual about this situation is that Remedy and Rockstar Games are working together on remakes of Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, the games that Remedy has tried to move away from with its logo redesign. Remedy is developing the games while Rockstar is taking on the financing.
Take-Two has until November 6th, 2025, to submit any further evidence that supports its claims.
Rockstar's parent has a history of launching patent disputes. In 2021, it filed hundreds of trademark disputes over the use of terms that included 'Rockstar,' '2K,' and 'Bully.' Take-Two also went after the developer of It Takes Two as it felt that Hazelight Studio's excellent co-op platformer's name was too similar to its own, though that particular trademark dispute was ultimately abandoned.
