Update: It appears that the Skate trademark has not actually been abandoned. Trademark law is a complex minefield to navigate, and initial reports on this one got it wrong. The original report failed to account for another Skate trademark that EA filed for in June—a renewal of the original trademark—so although the February filing has been abandoned, the Skate trademark is still alive and well.
Original: Fans hoping for an eventual Skate 4 can once more temper expectations, unfortunately. Electronic Arts has again abandoned the franchise’s trademark, according to information listed on Justia Trademarks. GamesRadar spotted the interesting detail, pointing out that the trademark was abandoned as of August 30th of this year.
As of writing, Skate’s trademark is listed as “Abandoned-Failure To Respond Or Late Response.” This may surprise some, since the publisher refiled for ownership of the trademark with US Trademark and Patent Office in February 2018. What may have taken place between then and the trademark’s abandoned this past summer remains a mystery. And who knows if a concrete answer will ever actually surface?
Barring the aforementioned trademark refiling, news about Skate’s future has been scant for quite a long time. In May 2018, a listing for the much-coveted Skate 4 randomly appeared on a Swedish retailer’s website. This was well over a year after an Electronic Arts Community Manager tweeted a very simple, “#skate4,” once again getting fans riled up. Clearly, both instances riled up fans for no reason, since nothing has become of either event.
With all of the above in mind, should long-time lovers of the short-lived series give up hope? It seems that may have to be the case, sadly. Like other fan-favorite extreme sports franchises, the future of Skate looks incredibly dim. In fact, this seems true of skateboarding games in general. There exists little to no hope for the Tony Hawk Pro Skater faithful either, perhaps not even with regards to a potential remaster.
[Source: Justia Trademarks via GamesRadar]
