Take-Two v. BrockStar Media, start to finish
Everything below is tied to the Board's public docket or to emails reproduced as exhibits in the book. Where the record is silent, this page says so.
The parties
BrockStar Media Corp is a North Carolina marketing agency in Rocky Mount. It applied to register BROCKSTAR MEDIA on June 27, 2023 (Serial No. 98/060,411) for Class 35 services: internet-based marketing, advertising, media relations and lead generation. First use in commerce: April 4, 2022. Source: USPTO TSDR, Reg. No. 7,870,392
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: TTWO) is the parent of Rockstar Games, which the company describes in its annual report as "our wholly-owned publisher of the Grand Theft Auto, L.A. Noire, Max Payne, Midnight Club, Red Dead Redemption, and other popular franchises." Source: Take-Two Form 10-K, fiscal 2026
Take-Two was represented by Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. The emails quoted below were written by Kelli D. Ortega, Special Counsel, and the book also names Andrea L. Calvaruso of the same firm.
Timeline
Notice of Opposition filed
Take-Two opposes BROCKSTAR MEDIA, pleading thirty registrations and applications: twelve "R" star devices, the R ROCKSTAR GAMES composite (Reg. 2,855,543), ROCKSTAR (Regs. 5,639,907 and 6,187,097), ROCKSTAR GAMES, ROCKSTAR FILMS, ROCKSTAR TV, ROCKSTAR NORTH, ROCKSTAR PASS, ROCKSTAR STUDIOS, ROCKSTAR WAREHOUSE and ROCKSTAR GAMES SOCIAL CLUB. Answer due January 6, 2025. Source: TTABVUE entries 1 to 3
A coexistence proposal goes to the applicant's then-lawyer
The applicant says he did not see it until January 23. His former lawyer stayed counsel of record for 106 days and did not withdraw until the applicant asked the Board to remove him. The docket records both filings on March 13, 2025. Source: TTABVUE entry 11
Notice of default
No answer had been filed by the deadline. Source: TTABVUE entry 4
Answer filed
Brock answers, denies likelihood of confusion, and challenges the validity of Take-Two's pleaded registrations. The default is cured. Source: TTABVUE entry 5
Seven terms
Ortega writes to Brock directly for the first time, under a "confidential, for settlement purposes only" heading he had not agreed to. She restates Take-Two's proposal: it will not object to BROCKSTAR MEDIA for marketing services if the applicant (1) redesigns the logo so ROCKSTAR does not read as a separate term inside BROCKSTAR; (2) never displays the mark in a way that emphasizes ROCKSTAR; (3) amends the application to exclude entertainment, software, computer games, video games and gaming services; (4) never uses or registers BROCKSTAR MEDIA for those services; (5) never uses the letter R with a star design; (6) never uses ROCKSTAR or ROCK + STAR; and (7) consents on request to Take-Two's use or registration of its own ROCKSTAR marks in Class 35, the applicant's own class. Book, Exhibit 2.
"Very strong and nearly exclusive"
Ortega: "My client's rights in the ROCKSTAR marks are very strong and nearly exclusive for their covered goods and services." The marks Brock had cited, she wrote, "pertain to inactive marks or cover unrelated goods or services, and even so, many of which Take-Two has entered into agreements with resulting in limitations being filed on the register." Book, Exhibit 4.
Exhibit 4 from the book: the February 21, 2025 email, reproduced in type with highlighting added. Counter-proposal
Brock proposes that Take-Two withdraw with prejudice and contribute to his costs; in return he would accept three limits of his own: no lone R-and-star in his branding, no entry into video game development or publishing, and no ROCKSTAR-worded branding. Book, Exhibit 6 and chapter "The Fight, Start to Finish."
"Not objecting"
Ortega, asking for a third time for a phone call: "As I've repeatedly explained, Take-Two is not objecting to or trying to prevent your use or registration of the word mark BROCKSTAR MEDIA. We are seeking a coexistence agreement to protect both parties' rights, including yours." The opposition was still on file. Book, Exhibit 5.
Exhibit 5 from the book: the March 7, 2025 email. "A phone call is useless"
Brock declines the call and writes that Take-Two showed its position "the moment it chose to initiate an opposition against my mark—one that was not infringing, not confusing, and not even in the same industry," and that he is "more than willing to make it my personal mission to dismantle their entire trademark portfolio, one fraudulent or improperly maintained mark at a time." Book, Exhibit 6.
Take-Two withdraws
Opposer's Notice of Withdrawal, without prejudice. Ortega emails it at 3:54 p.m. Take-Two has never said why. Source: TTABVUE entry 8
Motion to deny withdrawal without prejudice
Because an answer was already on file, the applicant asks the Board to dismiss with prejudice instead. Source: TTABVUE docket
Dismissed with prejudice
The Board dismisses Opposition No. 91295390 with prejudice and terminates the proceeding. Take-Two cannot re-oppose. Source: TTABVUE docket
Registered
BROCKSTAR MEDIA, U.S. Reg. No. 7,870,392, Principal Register, Class 35. Source: USPTO TSDR
What the applicant gave up
Nothing. Between January 23 and March 11 the applicant agreed to none of the seven terms: no logo redesign, no exclusion language in the application, no ban on ROCKSTAR or ROCK and STAR, no advance consent to Take-Two's Class 35 filings. The three limits in his own counter-proposal were never accepted by Take-Two and never signed.
What the record does not show
- Why Take-Two withdrew. It never said.
- Any finding by the Board on likelihood of confusion. The case ended on the withdrawal, not on the merits.
- Any payment, in either direction.
Why "with prejudice" matters. Once an answer is filed, an opposer cannot simply walk away and keep the right to come back. Trademark Rule 2.106(c) lets the Board dismiss with prejudice over the applicant's objection to a bare withdrawal. That is the rule the applicant invoked, and it is the reason the registration is now safe from a second opposition by the same party on the same grounds. The book's chapter 4 explains the mechanics.
The seven terms, in context
Read the list for what each term would have cost a marketing agency in its own class. Term 7 is the one to notice: advance consent to Take-Two's own ROCKSTAR filings in Class 35, the class the applicant operates in, offered in exchange for Take-Two's agreement not to object to a mark it was simultaneously telling the applicant it did not object to.
The full account, with all eight exhibits, the filings, and a chapter-by-chapter handbook for anyone facing an opposition, is in BROCKSTAR vs ROCKSTAR.