Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was originally released in June of 2002
*Final for this particular filing
On November 05, 2019, Nintendo of America Inc. filed the fifth and final Request for Extension of Time to File a Statement of Use for its trademark application US Serial Number 87274495, Eternal Darkness, originally filed December 20, 2016 in the US via the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The request was granted on November 08, 2019.
Source: http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn87274495&docId=ESU20191106155005#docIndex=2&page=1To the Commissioner for Trademarks:
MARK: ETERNAL DARKNESS (see, https://tmng-al.uspto.gov/resting2/api/img/87274495/large)
SERIAL NUMBER: 87274495
The applicant, Nintendo of America Inc., having an address of
4600 150th Avenue NE
Redmond, Washington 98052
United States
206-682-8100
[email protected] (authorized)
requests a six-month extension of time to file the Statement of Use under 37 C.F.R. Section 2.89 in this application. The Notice of Allowance mailing date was 05/09/2017.
For International Class 009:
Current identification: Downloadable electronic game programs; downloadable electronic game software; electronic game programs; electronic game software; video game programs; video game software
For a trademark/service mark: The applicant has a continued bona fide intention, and is entitled, to use the mark in commerce on or in connection with all of the goods/services listed in the Notice of Allowance or as subsequently modified for this specific class; for a collective/certification mark: the applicant has a continued bona fide intention, and is entitled, to exercise legitimate control over the use of the mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods/services/collective membership organization listed in the Notice of Allowance, or as subsequently modified for this specific class.
This is the fifth extension request. The applicant has made the following ongoing efforts to use the mark in commerce on or in connection with each of those goods/services covered by the extension request: product or service research or development
If Nintendo wants the trademark to register, they will need to file a Statement of Use within the next six months or else the application will be abandoned. Should the application be abandoned it is however nothing extraordinary. Two prior trademark applications for Eternal Darkness, US Serial Numbers 77932350 and 86017853 , were abandoned, in 2013 and 2017 respectively, because no Statement of Use or Extension Request timely filed after Notice of Allowance was issued. Little prevents Nintendo from letting the active application become abandoned just to file a new application, as has been norm in the past.
Whether Nintendo has an actual intent to use the mark, Eternal Darkness, in commerce is unknown. Their interest seems more steered towards IP protection. We shall see in the next six months if this story will take an unexpected turn or if we are to expect a new application to be filed.