Cyberpunk 2077 - Brian Bethke responds to Cyberpunk Trademark

Lucky Day spotted a statement from Brian Bethke about CD Projekt's Cyberpunk trademark on World Trademark Review:

Cyberpunk legend expresses concern over controversial trademark: "I wish someone from CD Projekt Red would contact me"

There has been an outcry over trademark applications for the term CYBERPUNK filed by video game developer CD Projekt Red. While much of the negative sentiment has been put to rest after the company released an open letter expanding on the marks, some concern remains – including from Bruce Bethke, who originally coined the term ‘cyberpunk’ in 1980.

The furore began last week following the discovery of an EU trademark application for the term CYBERPUNK, the term used for a popular subgenre of science fiction (exemplified by classic works of fiction including Blade Runner, Ghost In The Shell and Neuromancer). The trademark registrant was CD Projekt Red, developer of the popular Witcher series of video games and an upcoming title in development called Cyberpunk 2077 (based on 1980s role-playing game Cyberpunk 2020, created by R. Talsorian Games).
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A comment emerged that was attributed to Bruce Bethke, the author who originally coined the term ‘cyberpunk’ in in a popular short story written in 1980. He claimed that entities often try and trademark the term but they “never hold up” due to “the enormous amount of well-documented prior art”. Other commentators directed their disappointment at CD Projekt Red, with one asking: “Would it be better if they went with ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ specifically? This seems like overreach.” Another compared the mark to previous trademark applications that received public backlashes: “This is exactly the same as oppressive trademarks such as [King.com filing for] Saga or what the Fine Bros tried to do with React, however I can guarantee that despite how [bad] this is, there will be people ... who will defend this. In their eyes CD Projekt Red can do no wrong. This trademark will probably get rejected but it's still a scumbag thing to attempt to get.”
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