Back in 2013 Nintendo filed for the registration of the trademark “Eternal Darkness,” sparking hope for the return in some form of the action adventure by Silicon Knights.
Six months after the registration of a trademark, the United States Patent and Trademark Office sends registrants a “notice of allowance” demanding a “statement of use” including evidence that the trademark is indeed being used in commerce. At that point the registrant can either provide said evidence, request an extension of the time to send the statement, or do nothing, in which case the trademark will be abandoned after further six months.
The extension request is a “sworn statement that the applicant still has a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce, but needs additional time actually to use the mark.”
Nintendo was granted the first extension in June, and on December 17th they requested a second, which was approved on the 20th, meaning that the house of Mario and Zelda still intends to use the trademark.
They also have a limited time to actually do so, because the extension can only be requested five times, meaning that Nintendo will have to provide teh USPTO with evidence of a new Eternal Darkness project by the end of 2016, or lose the right to use the name.
