A couple of weeks ago, we brought you news that Sony Computer Entertainment of America tried and failed to trademark the term “let’s play” at the end of 2015. We noted that they had a year to appeal the ruling by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

It turns out that Sony didn’t waste any time in trying again to trademark “let’s play” but the USPTO once again refused the application.

Stephen McArthur, a self-professed expert in laws applicable to video games, led the opposition to Sony’s trademark application. He filed a Letter of Protest with the USPTO claiming that the term let’s play is a generic term in the gaming community for gameplay videos.

The USPTO agreed with the dispute against Sony’s claim citing the reason for refusal as Sony’s use of “let’s play” will be “merely descriptive.” The evidence included with McArthur’s Letter of Protest showed that “let’s play” is already a commonly used phrase for the purpose that Sony was trying to copyright “let’s play” for.

In a blog post on his firm’s website, McArthur stated his belief that this rejection means that the term “let’s play” will remain in the pubic domain.

What is left unanswered right now is what Sony was planning to do with a let’s play trademark. I would find it unusual that Sony would think they could trademark a commonly used phrase like “let’s play.” It’s only logical that it would be covering a new feature they were trying to add to the PS4. I’m sure we’ll find out eventually if Sony had anything up its sleeve.

Sources: Gamasutra, McArthur Law Firm

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