The Japanese electronics giant Sony has taken an extraordinary step to cash in on the war in Iraq by patenting the term ”Shock and Awe” for a computer game.
It is among a swarm of companies scrambling to commercially exploit the war in Iraq.
Sony is set to launch a computer game called Shock and Awe, having registered the phrase with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on March 21. It wants to use it for computer and video games, as well as a broadband game played both locally and globally via the Internet among PlayStation users.
The phrase, coined by the former US navy pilot Harlan Ullman, was adopted by Washington to describe the fierce bombardment of Baghdad.
A spokesman for Sony PlayStation in the United Kingdom admitted the company might not stock the game in Europe, owing to political sensitivities.
”Sometimes registering trademarks does not necessarily mean the product will be launched. But if it was deemed unsuitable then we might not ship it here,” he said.
”If indeed it is related to the Iraqi war rather than just using that phrase then, yes, it might well be something we would be very sensitive to.”
But the Sony game is only the tip of the iceberg, as the US market is set to be flooded with goods ranging from T-shirts, toys, board games, train sets and sunglasses, to mugs and fireworks branded with slogans such as ”Operation Iraqi Freedom” and ”Battle of Baghdad”.
A British company is also planning a computer game, books, cards and magazines based on the war, called Conflict Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad.
SCi Games, part of the computer games publisher SCi Entertainment, registered the title as a trademark in the US on February 25, having scored a hit with its original PlayStation and Xbox game, Conflict: Desert Storm.
Other goods planned for sale in the US include an ”Axis of Evil” board game, ”Iraqi Freedom” crockery and clothes, and ”Shock and Awe” trainers and dolls. — Â