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Stellar Blade developer Shift Up and publisher Sony are being sued…over Stellar Blade. The plaintiff, a Louisiana-based film production company called, yes, Stellarblade, is alleging trademark infringement and claiming its business is being damaged by Shift Up’s use of the name.
The complaint, which has been viewed by IGN, was filed in a Louisiana court earlier this month by Stellarblade LLC and owner Griffith Chambers Mehaffey against Shift Up, Sony, and an unnamed insurance company that the plaintiff claims covers Sony Interactive Entertainment with liability insurance against the very allegations Stellarblade is bringing.
In the lawsuit, Stellarblade and Mehaffey claim that the Louisiana company has existed since 2010, providing “multimedia entertainment services” such as film, documentary, commercial, and music video production services. The lawsuit alleges that Mehaffey has owned stellarblade.com since 2006 and been using it in conjunction with his work since 2011.
Mehaffey notes that when Shift Up first announced its game, it was under the title Project Eve back in 2019 (it was re-revealed in 2021 at a PlayStation Showcase under the same name). However, the name was changed to Stellar Blade in 2022, and not long after in January of 2023, Shift Up first registered Stellar Blade as a video game-related trademark. Mehaffey registered his own trademark for Stellarblade in June of 2023, then send a cease and desist letter to Shift Up a month later.
Mehaffey claims that while previously, his customers were able to find information about his business easily, now people searching for Stellarblade’s work on the internet only find Stellar Blade the video game. Additionally, he alleges the trademarks for his own business are “confusingly similar”, citing the color schemes of both logos and the stylized S.
Mehaffey’s request for relief includes asking that Shift Up and Sony be prevented from using Stellar Blade or any other name similar to it, as well as asking they hand over all materials in their possession with “Stellar Blade” on them so Mehaffey and Stellarblade can destroy them. Additionally, Mehaffey is asking to be paid for damages and attorney fees. IGN has reached out to PlayStation for comment.
Mehaffey’s lawyer sent the following statement to IGN.
Mr. Mehaffey registered the stellarblade.com domain in 2006 and has used the STELLARBLADE name for his business for nearly 15 years. Given this long-standing and public use, it’s difficult to imagine that Shift Up and Sony were unaware of Mr. Mehaffey’s established rights before adopting their identical mark. We believe in fair competition, but when larger companies disregard the established rights of smaller businesses, it’s our responsibility to stand up and protect our brand. The defendants’ far superior resources have effectively monopolized online search results for STELLARBLADE, pushing Mr. Mehaffey’s long-established business into digital obscurity and threatening the livelihood he’s built over more than a decade.
Stellar Blade launched back in April of this year, and we gave it a 7/10 on release. Our reviewer said it was “great in all of the most important ways for an action game, but dull characters, a lackluster story, and several frustrating elements of its RPG mechanics prevent it from soaring along with the best of the genre.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
