Sony has trademarked PlayStation TV with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, after the original trademark expired last year.
The PlayStation TV trademark was originally filed by Sony in 2006, but that patent lapsed in September 2012, causing Sony to again apply to trademark the name and its associated logo also included in the filing.
Rather than a trademark for a physical product, the PlayStation TV application is for a service trademark. This means Sony could launch its own Netflix and LoveFilm rival as part of the PlayStation Network service.
“Whereas I think you could have slightly accused Sony of a bit of forced synergy, if we’d been trying to enact this collaboration several years ago, the fact is now, with 110 million PlayStation Network accounts worldwide, that’s a substantial business opportunity for Sony Pictures to reach a different audience,” said PlayStation CEO Andrew House.
PlayStation TV could be a video-on-demand service to launch with the PS4, which has the potential to rival the claimed “all in one entertainment system” offered by Microsoft’s Xbox One console.
Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton appeared on stage during PlayStation’s E3 2013 press conference, during which it finally unveiled the PS4 console design.
This caused many to speculate that the Sony is working on a way to combine PlayStation and Sony Pictures offerings.
“So [Lyton] was talking about two things. One is significant interest and work which is already under way to develop original TV-style programming and content, which could be made available with some form of exclusivity to people on the PSN – essentially using PSN as a distribution network.”
“The second point was to find ways to give earlier or exclusive access to other forms of content that Sony Pictures has – again, for people who are on PSN and particularly for members of PlayStation Plus.”
The PS4 will be released sometime this “holidays 2013” period for £349 without the PlayStation Camera. This peripheral will be sold separately, unlike the Xbox One, which will be bundled with the new Kinect for a total price of £429.
Next, read our Xbox One vs PS4 comparison.
Via: ASPTO
