EA seeking Syndicate trademark

Evidence continues to mount that Electronic Arts and Swedish developer Starbreeze are at work on a reboot of Bullfrog Productions' classic cyberpunk tactical action game Syndicate. The latest comes by way of a trio of new trademark applications that surfaced in the US Patent and Trademark Office yesterday.

As spotted by Internet-sleuthing Web site Superannuation, EA's three new trademark applications all bear the title "Syndicate," and their purposes cover a range of products. The first is of the customary gaming sort, covering such topics as "computer game software" and "downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices."

A second filing pertains to more online uses of the phrase, including "entertainment services, namely, providing an on-line computer game." The third filing has to do with cross-media tie-ins for the name, including board games, toy figurines, and playing cards.

EA's latest overture toward the Syndicate franchise follows on from a copyright claim for the "Syndicate" name filed in June 2009 but not spotted until the following April.

As for Starbreeze's involvement in the franchise, EA announced a partnership with The Darkness developer to "reinvent" one of the publisher's "most acclaimed classic franchises" in February 2008. That game, which currently bears the title Project RedLime, was one of two commissioned by EA. However, the second, which was to star Robert Ludlum superspy Jason Bourne, was reportedly put on hiatus, according to the LA Times.