PlatinumGames recently acquired the trademark for The Wonderful 101 from Nintendo, it has emerged.
As spotted by Reddit user Joseki100, a document was sent to the United States Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month requesting a transferral of the trademark from Nintendo to Platinum.
The document also includes a link to a Notice of Recordation of Assignment document, dated August 19, which confirms the transfer and a registration date of September 9.
It had long been speculated online that Platinum had received ownership of The Wonderful 101 from Nintendo in order to release The Wonderful 101 Remastered in 2020, and that Nintendo may have received exclusive rights to the Astral Chain name as a result.
However, this was never the case – as Platinum’s then-vice president Hideki Kamiya confirmed in an interview with VGC last year, Platinum only had the specific rights to the remaster (and its platformer spin-off The Wonderful One) rather than the Wonderful 101 name as a whole.
“Is there any clarification on whether the Wonderful 101 IP is with Platinum now, or did you have to ask Nintendo for permission to make the spin-off?” we asked Kamiya last year.
“We cannot disclose details of the contract since another company is involved, but PlatinumGames holds the copyright for The Wonderful 101: Remastered and The Wonderful One: After School Hero,” he replied. “That’s all we can say.”
Now it appears the matter has been resolved and Platinum finally holds the full trademark for The Wonderful 101.
Kamiya left Platinum in October 2023, saying he had made the decision after “a lot of consideration based on my own beliefs”.
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