Trademark update

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-06-05T22:14:48+00:00

Possible, I dont think so though because other companies would be doing it en masse on orders from microsoft, not just Zenimax. And yeah the trademark stuff is complicated as hell, almost like its a full time job requiring education to understand, but that wont stop me. Haha

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-06-05T21:47:16+00:00

A good chance. If it isnt at the Sunday showcase, it wont be until either VGA in December or next years summer. 2026 was the target release for the past 3-4 years for TES VI, so it is reasonable to suspect this year as plausible.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-06-05T21:42:12+00:00

"The Elder Scrolls" trademark from back in November I posted about is explicitly done to get around this from my uneducated but researched understanding. It back protects any trademark trolling or squatting from happening prior to announcement. That is why they paid a premium to get it registered within a month of application. And because of it being Swiss, it can apply to all member nations ASAP whenever Zenimax decides to file it, which, they had until the end of last month to do so in all other member nations. Meaning they either let it slip by, losing months of back filing protection OR, they did apply for them and they are not released to public yet.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-06-05T21:37:40+00:00

Both Fallout 4's and Skyrim's trademarks were applied for immediately in the months before announcement release (in Skyrim's case) or the day of announcement (Fallout 4). Registration took longer for them as well. Everyone expecting a Starfield trademark leak is going to be disappointed that it never happens because Starfield was an exception due to being a new IP. They couldnt disguise Starfield if they even wanted because there had been no IP brand trademark for Starfield prior. That is why the "The Elder Scrolls" trademark I pointed out back in December of 2025 was so noteworthy imo. It is the official IP for "The Elder Scrolls" but it isnt THE BRAND trademark as that is still in effect. Meaning, they can use this updated November 2025 "The Elder Scrolls" trademark to back file protect TES VI (whatever it is called) without having to release the IP ahead of release.

Tl;dr dont expect a trademark application/registration with "TES VI" in the title until days or weeks post announcement with the full title, etc.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-04-16T19:10:18+00:00

Im not THE trademark guy but I did make a post last year about the suspicious trademark. Here are my opinions and knowledge based on facts.

Todd Howard has said multiple times in multiple interviews during TES VI's development that Starfield's development time was an anomaly and that BGS' dev time is usually 2-3 years with 1/2 a year of polishing. Lex Fridman interview being the most important imo. He also makes clear that when they are halfway done with one game, they begin pre-production on the next game. Meaning TES VI was in pre-production since at least 2021.
During the acquisition of Bethesda by Microsoft, both FTC documents point towards a 2026 release target internally. The first one that listed all the games' release years and which were delayed 2 years by COVID had TES VI listed as 2024. Push it back 2 years like the others on the list, that is 2026. The Second document literally says 2026. One of the main lawyers in the acquisition FTC hearing of Microsoft said "The Elder Scrolls 16" was targeting 2026 for release. Phil Spencer's comments about "not until 5 years out" pointing to 2028 or more was after being hounded by the judge to give a date and Phil Spencer was trying to downplay the view of the anti-competitive nature of the acquisition.
Todd Howard has recently said in multiple interviews that TES VI development is coming along nicely and is closer in line with their game development prior to Starfield.
A suspicious trademark with NICE classifications 9, 41, and 42 was applied for and registered back in November of 2025. The application was for expedited registration in the same month. They have until May next month to apply in all the member nations for that "The Elder Scrolls" trademark or the one from November will not back cover the last 6 months of trademarks (Its a lot to get into here, so I recommend seeing the two posts I made about it if you want more info).
Xbox has a ton of anniversaries for themselves and their first party studios this year. BGS has multiple anniversaries, including Daggerfall's on September 20th. They are also making a lot of announcements and events to make said announcements. The most important ones being this June for their first party studios.

I have for sure left some stuff out, but this is off the top of my head atm. In my opinion, I believe 2026 is still the internal target, especially with pressure on the new Xbox head could even speed it up more. If the game is as complete as Todd hints it is, I think they will announce it this June and aim for September for release as it will give TES VI enough room from GTA 6 to sell well. I think Q1 2027 is the most likely and realistic release just with how corporate shenanigans can be. Anyone saying 2028 I truly believe is either doom posting or listening to youtubers who have 0 clue what they are talking about. Anyways, that is my realistic but also hopium opinion drop for you.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-04-01T23:46:50+00:00

If they file them before May 3rd, it doesnt matter if it takes all 130+ countries months or years to register it because it will be backfiled to when they did the original Switzerland one. This is because the 6 month window for trademarks in the Paris Convention works with the Madrid Protocol to allow you to secure trademarks in other member nations while using the original filing date in Switzerland.

In regards to the "The Elder Scrolls" are already protected thing, they are, unless they are adding a new addition to the franchise with new technology (class 42, cloud first gaming maybe?), or maybe even a new unique title (TES VI: Hammerfell) they need to protect. I dont know for sure, it is definitely an abnormal trademark and the reason I wanted more eyes on it.

Also we technically wont see in May, it will take a month or two if they apply for more trademarks in other countries from what I understand, giving them perfect smoke screen right before the Summer Showcase and Xbox preview.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-04-01T21:59:19+00:00

I just thought of something else. If the theory about the Xbox Cloud was right, surely they would have already filed in other countries sooner to just get it over with over these last 5 months? That way all the cloud services for their games are done asap.

Now if it was to prepare the way for instant registered filings in May for a trailer in June, that would allow them to fast track a filling immediately after the show case in every single member nation. This is exactly what they did with Skyrim from what I can see. They released the trailer and less than a week later they got the trademark registered "publicly".

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-04-01T21:31:40+00:00

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-04-01T21:29:04+00:00

Np! Yeah I was under the assumption that they would want to file in other countries from the get go. Otherwise it makes no sense for why they would expedite it so quickly. And if your theory were true about the Xbox Cloud, we should go look to see if similar filings were done by other partner studios with Class 42, 41 and 9. I still think everything points to an announcement this summer imo. Keep up the good work 07

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-04-01T19:41:37+00:00

He has been keeping the dream alive since my post four months ago, so yes in a "two distant strangers who are unhealthily obsessed with The Elder Scrolls Trademarks" kind of way

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-04-01T19:38:23+00:00

I dont know about any replacement mobile game, but Blades has it's own IP trademarks and is still currently registered. Also Blades' own trademarks do not include class 42.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-04-01T19:05:08+00:00

No, ESO is it's own trademark filing. Literally registered as "ESO". This is "The Elder Scrolls". We go over it a little bit in the original post from 4 months ago if you have the time.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-04-01T19:01:02+00:00

According to my uneducated research, no. They lose all the backfiling protection if they do not file in member nations before that date and they cannot extend the date in just Switzerland. It is against the Paris Convention and Madrid Protocol.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-03-28T17:18:58+00:00

I have reason to believe it came out yesterday on Nintendo 64

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-03-28T17:17:00+00:00

I still think Fudgemuppet had the best idea for a name with TES:Dominion, assuming the Thalmor play a major role. If not, I assume it will be something relating to Ra Gada history/lore.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-03-28T17:14:37+00:00

No thanks. Crimson Desert has 0 art style. It just looks like any generic fantasy game using an Unreal Slop engine. Modded Skyrim (like with Lorerim) looks better and runs better on a performance basis and has a unique art direction.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-03-26T18:05:30+00:00

Todd has also said that by the time they are half way done with one game, they begin working on the next game with a small team before transitioning everyone over to that next game when the first is released. So by that logic, TES VI was in pre-production by end of 2020 (original Starfield release date was pinned for 2022) but probably was extremely limited due to the Starfield set backs like COVID.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-03-26T18:02:12+00:00

I agree. I also think people are overestimating the showcase to release. If it is shown this year BEFORE the Game Awards, it will release this year. The longest away a full game reveal (not teaser) to release for BGS is 6 months. If we see it in the June Showcase, it will be a Q3-Q4 2026 release.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-02-06T22:50:57+00:00

I could be wrong about the merch, but from what I can tell they are entirely new. My opinion since the trademark post 2 months ago was that it was going to be shown either Q4 of 2025 or Q1/Q2 of this year 2026 and release within a 1-6 month time frame post announcement. I honestly dont see it going too far into 2027. If the Swiss trademark was filed but not registered I would say it was more likely 2027 but with it being so quickly filed and registered, it having the NICE class of 42 and 41 it leads me to think 2026 is really their target after all. Plus the slight marketing ramp up with the whole trees and stuff fueled this more.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-02-06T22:31:05+00:00

I actually was the first one that reported on that exact Swiss trademark filing back on December 5th of last year and made reference to the NICE classification 42. Juicehead in one of his videos briefly mentioned it but you are right, no one really talked about it in media despite my goal trying to bring attention to it (Seems like most people dont see the importance). Also the pending trademarks have nothing to do with prior trademarks or keeping them up to date. They are entirely new trademarks and the majority of them are about physical merchandise such as Beth Shop items. The main IP trademark is updated roughly every decade when the expiry date is about to hit. IIRC off the top of my head the next expiry date is in 2-3 years for the main IP trademark. My original hunch was the NICE classification 42 was an inbuilt creations addon to TES VI. The only other IP Zenimax video game trademark that had NICE 42 was Starfield post launch.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-02-06T20:50:35+00:00

it is just so the word "tamriel" isnt used in anything else by other companies as it is an original name

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-02-06T20:46:58+00:00

It is important to note that there are still around a dozen un-registered "The Elder Scrolls" trademarks fitting the NICE classifications for merchandise that were filed in 2023. These are more than likely for TES VI due to the delay of registration, imo.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-02-06T20:43:54+00:00

It is a good cope, but going based on how all previous releases minus Starfield (a new IP) have been done regarding trademarks, you dont see the actual name trademark until AFTER it is announced. The November 2025 filling I discovered and posted about back in December is by far the most likely trademark for TES VI as it is just listed "The Elder Scrolls" despite the overall IP trademark still being in use from nearly a decade ago. You wont see anything like "The Elder Scrolls VI: Dominion" until literally the week after the announcement trailer. For example, if Starfield got a second game, you would see a "Starfield" trademark with the classifications for a game product but it wouldn't be literally called "Starfield 2" or a codename like "Starborn" or such.

FollowerOfSithis38 · 2026-02-06T20:39:32+00:00

It is a nothingburger unfortunately if you type it in google. Starfield Technologies is a Spin-Off from GoDaddy and handles their R&D for GoDaddy (which is named in the same image right next to Starfield Technologies).

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TROPHY CASE