Sony's "Let's Play" Trademark Filing Gets Thrown Out

Earlier this month, we found out that Sony was trying to trademark a rather well-known term in the gaming industry. Let's plays have been around for a number of years now, with thousands of people making videos that utilize that term. Thankfully their application was rejected, but on a strange technicality that made it possible for them to try again.

Today, things look a little brighter in the world of Let's Plays. After the initial rejection came to light, The McArthur Law Firm filed a letter of protest to the USPTO. Essentially the firm wanted to show the office that the term "Let's play" is a generic term that is frequently used in the gaming community. The firm sent along 50 different examples of the term being used generically by gamers everywhere.

The USPTO responded to the letter by confirming that the term is indeed too common and generic to be trademarked by any company. You can read the entire refusal below:

As a gamer, I want to give a big shoutout to The McArthur Law Firm for standing up for gamers' rights everywhere. The trademark should never have been filed by Sony in the first place, but this firm stood up and went out of their way to make sure that the USPTO understood the facts of the case.