Stellar Blade is now the subject of a trademark infringement lawsuit

Star Blade The game has been the subject of some odd controversies since its release in late April, but one of the strangest is the recent lawsuit filed against developer Shift Up and Sony alleging trademark infringement on its name.

IGN reports that the lawsuit was filed in a Louisiana court earlier this month by Griffith Chambers Mehaffey, owner of a video production company called Stellarblade LLC. His lawyers say he has used stellarblade.com since 2006 and his company has been around since 2010. However, the release of the game has made it harder for people to find information about his business.

Mehaffey is seeking damages and has ordered Sony and Shift Up to stop using the name “Stellar Blade.”

The lawsuit further claims that his company’s trademarks and the Shift Up game look “confusingly similar.” Both feature a blue color scheme and a stylized S, although they otherwise look very different.

This wasn’t a problem when the game was announced in 2019 under the name EVE Projectalthough Sony revealed Star Blade name on its September 2022 State of Play report. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office Star Blade The trademark was originally filed in January 2023, and an “opposition” was filed on September 11, 2024. Mehaffey filed his own trademark in June 2023, then sent a cease and desist letter to Shift Up in July.

Star Blade was the first major console exclusive to release on PlayStation 5 in 2024. While reviews were mixed (Digital Trends said the game had great style but was “lacking in substance”), Shift Up revealed that the game sold 1 million copies in its first few months. In June, it dropped out of the top 20 most downloaded PlayStation games.