Nintendo wants to trademark ‘NSW’ for Nintendo Switch in Europe

Nintendo wants to trademark ‘NSW’ for the Nintendo Switch – but Mario won’t be the new Premier.

Nintendo, of Mario and Zelda fame, is looking to trademark a new three-letter abbreviation for its console, the Nintendo Switch. Any guesses? That’s right, they’ve gone for NSW. Sound familiar? Thought it might.

The trademark application, made to the European Union Intellectual Property Office, comes as ‘NSW’ grows in popularity as shorthand for the Nintendo Switch, although the usage of that over simply ‘NS’ or ‘Switch’ is minor.

As well as a funny coincidence (and one that had some fellow Aussies hoping for a change in leadership) it’s actually very interesting legal ground.

While registering a games console as USA would likely have some brand-recognition issues with the world’s most well-known nation, New South Wales is a tad less famous outside of Australian borders. This means it hasn’t really come up before, but there also isn’t any actual legal protection, at least blatantly, in place.

Technology lawyer Judy Zhu, who works for Brisbane-based tech-savvy Eaglegate Lawyers, says “while there are signs such as words, names and emblems the use of which are either banned or heavily regulated by legislation, the question of whether Australian state abbreviations are also protected is something of a grey area.”

The untitled sequel to Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the most anticipated games currently in development, and a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Picture: Nintendo

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Naturally, this trademark would never force NSW to stop being NSW, and Nintendo are unlikely to buy the entire state to gain control of it (though you really do never know, in the modern world).

There are legal options for the government if it really came to it, which it never would for that reason. Nintendo may also simply not bother to try to register the trademark in Australia, sticking to Europe and the US.

The complications come on specifics, such as the fact Nintendo’s trademark covers sporting goods.

“If Nintendo (or any other party for that matter) obtains trade mark protection for NSW in respect of the goods covered by the mark,” continues Zhu, “then it may attempt to stop other traders from using those letters as a trade mark for those or similar goods.

‘NSW’ is growing in popularity as shorthand for the Nintendo Switch. Picture: Nintendo.

“If Nintendo’s goods don’t actually originate from NSW, then other parties could oppose the application by arguing that the use of the letters NSW in connection with the goods covered by the application would be likely to deceive or cause confusion because of the connotation of geographical origin in the mark.”

This is particularly relevant for the likes of the New South Wales Rugby League, which has a registration for NSW RL. I’d personally probably back the rugby club in a fight against game developers, but it feels unlikely it’ll come to that either.

Reaction from the public has mostly been bemusement and laughter, as seen here.

aah yes i love playing on my new south wales while state of origin is on... https://t.co/PwsnWLh3Wr

— bruce waye (@batmanandrobinz) July 12, 2022

It’s worth noting that outside Australia, NSW is less automatically assigned to the state – this probably wasn’t even deliberate on Nintendo’s part, beyond their legal team possibly knowing the implications before it was filed.

Might we see Paradox Interactive, developers of Victoria 3, coming after the state? Or maybe Speedrun.com will have had enough of Tasmania and want their Tool Assisted Speedruns to have primacy worldwide? Time will tell.

— written by GLHF