It appears fairly mundane on the surface. Nintendo, ever eager to protect its IP and branding, recently filed to trademark the acronym “NSW” sometimes used to refer to the Switch when “NS” is just a little too vague and “NX” is extremely old hat. (Man, remember when we could only called it the NX? Funky times.) If an unauthorized distributor used the acronym, then Nintendo could muscle in and lawyer them to death. It seems completely unremarkable. But there’s an issue here. You see, NSW is already an acronym, and it doesn’t mean “Not Safe Work” (a label not for adult content but workplaces that aren’t OSHA compliant).
You see, “NSW” refers to New South Wales, the most populous state in Australia, right along its eastern coast, which also contains Sydney, state capital and the country’s most populous city. According to our expertly vetted sources of “Dude trust me,” there is a possibility that by trademarking NSW, Nintendo now has sovereignty over the entire state. Such a method of political strong-arming would be flabbergasting, especially because the people of Australia did not democratically vote on the matter. We guess ACNH just sold that well.
Of course, there’s always the wrinkle that Nintendo applied for the trademark in Europe, where they have not New South Wales but just… Wales. But then we remember that Australia is part of the Commonwealth, meaning they still swear fealty to the Queen of England, and thus via transitive property and our source of “Bro seriously you have to take my word for it I’m begging you” Nintendo may have control of New South Wales after all. Soon instead of “God save the Queen” they’ll be saying “God save Princess Peach.” But who can say? I’m not a lawyer. Or an Australian, for that matter. I’m just a games journalist trying to spice up a mundane trademark report by boldly lying in a meager attempt at humor. Which is clearly working. Have a good day, readers. Especially you, Australians.
Source: Resetera | Via: Video Game Chronicle | Nintendo Life
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
