Monster Energy Battled Pokémon To Legally Dominate The ‘Monster’ Name

Monster Energy has been fighting fellow monsters left and right. The energy drink brand recently came under fire for forcing an indie developer to rename its game, Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals, because of the word “monster.” Since then, more monsters under its bed have been unleashed to reveal more secrets of its past.

Per Japanese news outlet Automaton, Monster Energy has, thus far, filed complaints against more than 130 companies with the Japanese Trademark and Patent Office due to their ties with the ‘Monster’ name, arguing that they’d confuse drinkers.

Most notably, the beverage brand went after the Pokémon franchise in 2016, since “Pokémon” is an abbreviation for “Pocket Monsters.” Specifically, it contested the titles Pokémon X & Y and Pokémon Sun & Moon. Talk about catching ’em all.

According to the report, the drink maker also targeted Monster Hunter Cross, or Monster Hunter Generations, which is what the game is known internationally, in addition to the Toronto Raptors’ logo. With the latter, Monster Energy claimed that the emblem of the red basketball with Velociraptor claws was pretty close to the monster claws in its ‘M’ symbol.

The trademark office denied Monster Energy’s requests, surmising that the names weren’t misleading to customers.

As per Kotaku, Monster Energy fought Ubisoft Entertainment’s right to change the Gods and Monsters name in April 2020, resulting in a rebrand to the title Immortals Fenyx Rising. The beverage brand won, having pointed out to the trademark office that it had sponsored video games and esports teams, so there was a chance fans would relate Gods and Monsters to Monster Energy.

However, Ubisoft denied that the dispute was why it ended up making the change, stating that gameplay had differed so much, a rename was necessary.

[via CBR and Metro.co.uk, images via various sources]