Following their victory in the 5th Alliance Tournament, the Ev0ke alliance has gained new notoriety and fame across the cluster. Nugoeihuvi Corporation is attempting to capitalize on this fame, having applied for a trademark on the Ev0ke name.
The trademark application is for use of "the name Ev0ke on clothing, apparel, toys, games, and other non-pod pilot related merchandise."
Experts believe the application's wording is an attempt to circumvent Ev0ke's obvious claim to the name. "By claiming the trademark is for items not related to pod pilots, Nugoeihuvi is going to make the argument that Ev0ke is currently only known for being a pod pilot alliance, and thus should have no claim on usage of a similar name outside of that realm," said Keldor Hastings, a copyright law analyst for the Science and Trade Institute.
"If the trademark application is denied, then NOH will be required to pay huge royalties to Ev0ke if they want to manufacture anything with their name on it," he went on. "It probably wouldn't be worth the effort to do so."
While there are no exact figures on sales of merchandise related to pod pilots available, experts predict that a company with the resources of NOH could translate a trademark on Ev0ke's name into a half-trillion ISK industry within a year. "But that market also wouldn't necessarily be sustainable," said Hastings. "Alliances disband all the time, and by the end of the next tournament, no one might remember Ev0ke."
Calls to NOH for comment were not returned.