WWE Files 'Vice City' Trademark Months Before Grand Theft Auto VI Launch

World Wrestling Entertainment has filed a trademark application for the phrase "Vice City," according to filing documents. The registration comes only months before Rockstar Games' highly anticipated launch of Grand Theft Auto VI, a game set in the fictional city of the exact same name.

The filing is connected to WWE wrestler Lola Vice, according to the application details, and is not intended to encroach on video game products. Still, attempting to claim the name of gaming’s most famous fictional metropolis right before its grand return is a bold piece of timing. It is the corporate equivalent of setting up a lemonade stand directly in front of a supermarket entrance.

The details

• Trademark term: "Vice City"
• Intended use: Connected to WWE wrestler Lola Vice
• Overlap: The fictional setting of Rockstar Games' upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI

Because the filing is tied to a performer rather than an interactive game, the move is technically a separate lane. However, trademark offices are historically busy places when two massive entertainment brands start sharing the same vocabulary. Whether this resolves quietly or turns into a corporate standoff, WWE has guaranteed itself a spot in the pre-launch conversation for one of the biggest games of the decade.