New trademarks filed for No One Lives Forever games

New trademarks for No One Lives Forever, the beloved spy shooter series from the early 2000s, were filed last week by Night Dive Studios, a publisher of classic PC games.

The Operative: No One Lives Forever kicked off the franchise on Windows PC in November 2000; it was followed by No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way in September 2002 and a prequel, Contract J.A.C.K., in November 2003. All three games were developed by Monolith Productions, which is now owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

The rights to the series were believed to have resided with publishers Fox Interactive and Sierra Entertainment, both of which ended up as subsidiaries of Activision. But last April, Dan Amrich, then Activision's social media manager, reported that the company did not believe it owned the No One Lives Forever rights. It is currently impossible to purchase a new copy of any of the games in the franchise.

On April 26, Night Dive Studios filed trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for "The Operative," "No One Lives Forever," "A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way" and "Contract J.A.C.K.," all for video game-related uses.

Portland, Oregon-based Night Dive Studios is a publisher that resurrects classic games and readies them for modern digital distribution. The company has brought games such as System Shock 2 and The 7th Guest to Steam.

In an email to Polygon, Night Dive CEO Stephen Kick said, "At this time we are unable to comment on future plans. I would like to add that our team has a great fondness for these games and our hope is that they will one day be re-released."