Gods and Monsters Trademark Fight With Monster Energy Caused Name Change

Published: September 10, 2020 1:21 PM /

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Monster Trademark Case

Ever since it was revealed, everyone has wondering what caused Ubisoft to the name change of Gods and Monsters to Immortals: Fenyx Rising. We believe that here at TechRaptor we have uncovered the truth why Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a thing - and it almost certainly is due to your favorite (or least favorite) energy drink.

Monster Energy has been a staple in the gaming scene for a while now. You'll often see them sponsoring esports, doing product placement in games like Death Stranding, having game product codes on their cans, and even putting their name on a game series. They are almost as ubiquitious now as Mountain Dew was when the drink verification meme came out.

Well, apparently Ubisoft hasn't been drinking enough Monster Energy, because when they filed the Gods and Monsters trademark, it was opposed by Monster Energy, who claimed it could cause confusion with almost all of their trademarks, including Monster Army, Monster Energy Drink, and more. They state they believe their trademarks would be damaged by Gods and Monsters, stating in one part:

Opposer will be damaged by registration of the Applications in that Applicant’s Mark so resembles Opposer’s MONSTER Marks, including as registered in the PTO[Patent and Trademark Office], and in which Opposer owns common law trademark rights, as to be likely, when used on or in connection with Applicant’s goods and services, as to cause confusion, or to cause mistake or to deceive 

Ubisoft opposed this, by and large denying every allegation Monster Energy made, aside from where due to likely legal ground stating they had insufficient knowledge to admit or deny. In one part of its opposition, Monster Energy claimed that its marks were famous, to which Ubisoft said, "Ubisoft denies Opposer’s alleged marks are famous" in their filing. Perhaps more pertinently, Ubisoft points out that there are many trademarks containing the word Monster, in a variety of categories, both internationally and federally. 

The case was moving along, until this summer they extended the case to engage in settlement talks twice, putting over the court dates to a future time. At this time, we don't know if they settled, however it appears likely that they did and that changing Gods and Monsters to Immortals: Fenyx Rising was part of that settlement.

We have reached out to both parties, as well as their legal teams but they have not responded at time of publication. If we learn more about the Monster trademark case, or how Gods and Monsters became ImmortalsFenyx Rising we will update this story. If you want to see the proceedings yourself, you can look on the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Correction Sep 12 8:37 AM: In the original story we said the drink verification meme was associated with Monster Energy. This was a mistake by the author who for some reason forgot it was Mountain Dew.

What do you think of the Monster trademark case? Do you think Monster Energy is overreaching itself? Do you prefer Immortals: Fenyx Rising to Gods and Monsters? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


Don Parsons
| Senior Writer

A longtime lover of speculative fiction, in almost all its forms, Don joined TechRaptor in 2014 on a whim sending in an application as he was looking for… More about Don

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Gods & Monsters
Game Page Gods & Monsters
Developer
Ubisoft
Publisher
Ubisoft
Genre
Action
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