Hudson Soft human mascot Takahashi Meijin is leaving Hudson. His gaming nickname might be staying put.
In 2005, Hudson, which is now owned by Konami, copyrighted the name “Takashi Meijin”, thus making that moniker the property of Takahashi’s former employer.
According to Japanese website Get News, Konami’s past copyright attempts have raised gamer ire. At one point, the company tried to copyright “visual novel”, a move that was rejected by the Japanese patent office.
Since “Takahashi Meijin” is owned by Hudson and Konami, it’s unclear what this means when Takahashi leaves the company. Perhaps his nickname’s English translation “Famous Takahashi” or his other moniker “Master Higgins” are permissible.
Toshiyuki Takahashi, his real name, doesn’t quite have the same ring to it…
高橋名人退職で名前使用不可能に!? 「高橋名人」が商標登録されていた [ガジェット通信]
Top photo: Hudson Soft
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