Remedy Entertainment has filed a trademark for “Alan Wake’s Return,” no, you’re not experiencing déjà vu. That’s because the studio did the same in 2016, and the news made waves big enough to warrant a response from Sam Lake himself.
At the time, Sam confirmed the trademark wasn’t for a new project, but an in-game video series within Quantum Break. The trademark was there to simply protect the legalities surrounding the content… So what’s different this time?
Alan Wake’s Return Trademark Details
Turns out, the 2016 trademark expired earlier this month and returned as a new entry with additional details. While this is entirely speculation, if the goal was the same legal protection surrounding the name, renewing the original trademark would have been sufficient. Instead, Remedy waited for it to expire and filed a new one soon after. And no, the studio did not forget about it, as we can see it received a notification to renew the trademark in 2025.
Clearly, Remedy wants to either protect Alan Wake’s Return across more content or has plans to do something we all thought it would a decade ago.
What’s New With Alan Wake’s Return?
Among the fresh details in the 2026 Alan Wake’s Return trademark are the replacement of class 028 (toys) with 016 (printed material) and 025 (clothing). Class 041 retains its multimedia services, while class 09 now covers far more details.
Even though the 041 has mostly remained similar, the timing of it is interesting considering that Remedy Entertainment entered a partnership with Annapurna to bring Alan Wake and Control to the film screens. It could very well be something related to that project.
There’s an almost equal chance this will be an Alan Wake game, but we can’t say for sure. At the end of the day, Sam Lake may have to appear again and tell us whether their plans have changed regarding the trademark and its content.
You can see the Alan Wake’s Return trademark here.
What do you think of the Alan Wake’s Return trademark? Do you think it’s something of note, or just another refiling?
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