14 DAY TRIAL // The Shenmue fanbase has been asking for a return of the series for a long time, and it seems Sega has no plans to revive the cult game.
The latest news about Shenmue, a series that has last made an appearance in 2001, is consequently not very surprising. The Patent and Trademark Office has cancelled the trademark for "Shenmue," because Sega hasn't been using it in the last years.
The trademark page states that the cancellation occurred "because the registrant did not file an acceptable declaration under Section 8," as one should in order to protect commercial rights.
Section 8 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1058 is a regulation that requires a sworn declaration on the "continued use" of a trademark or "excusable nonuse," to be provided between the 5th and 6th years and between the 9th and 10th years after the registration date, as DualShockers informs.
Since the trademark was registered in 2002, that could only mean that Sega either did not manage to bring a suitable excuse for the lack of recent commercial use or simply did not provide the declaration required in order to maintain the trademark registered.