Shenmue Trademark Listed as "Cancelled"

According to the United States patent office, Sega has now officially lost the right to the "Shenmue" trademark in America.

The patent office's website claims Sega has lost the trademark "because registrant did not file an acceptable declaration under Section 8". Which basically means Sega have lost the trademark due to inactivity with the franchise and have not attempted to renew it.

The Shenmue series has been dead since the last game Shenmue 2 was re-released for the original Xbox in 2002, although series protagonist Ryo Hazuki did appear as a playable character in the PC version of Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed.