A quick search of the US Patent and Trademark Office shows that Flight Simulator was first registered as a trademark by Bruce Artwick in 1995 and is now owned by Microsoft. and is still live. It's registered for the following goods and services - computer game programs and related printed instruction manuals and user guides, sold together. There's a dead registration by Sublogic Corporation filed in 1984 registered for the same goods and services..

Hello Mike,I've read this a couple of times recently on these forums where people have claimed the "Flight Simulator" is a registered trademark of Microsoft. I would be interested if someone could tell me if this is true or not and where they get their information from. I've just read the FSX manual, it tells me that Microsoft, the MS Game Studios Logo and Windows are registered trademarks but it doesn't mention "Flight Simulator". I've also checked the credits and eula documents in the FSX folder, no mention of it and I've even checked out the Microsoft Trademarks page (http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/en/us/IntellectualProperty/Trademarks/EN-US.aspx) and it doesn't mention "Flight Simulator" being a trademark either (although they do have Forza Motorsport, Halo and other games titles listed).

That raises the interesting possibility that someone else may own the name. And if so- who is the "someone"? Bruce Artwick perhaps? In which case it might explain why the new product is titled simply "Flight". AROops- mgh beat me to it! Thanks. Is it Owned BY or alternatively, Licenced TO MS? If licenced, there would be a Term Definite.

Thanks mgh :)

Microsoft owns it. The register doesn't cover licencing agreements. As long as Microsoft is in the flight simulator business (under whatever name) I very much doubt it would licence 3rd party use of the term.

Microsoft owns it. The register doesn't cover licencing agreements. As long as Microsoft is in the flight simulator business (under whatever name) I very much doubt it would licence 3rd party use of the term.

Perhaps- but a couple of years ago, MS apparently decided to abandon further FS development and fired everyone.If I recall, the subsequent agreement with Lockheed Martin came about, around the same time that MS annouced resumption of work on a product to be called Flight.All that suggests that some major strategic decisions were being made re corporate direction- possibly a deal to share a market that was potentially much larger than just entertainment.Hence reallocation of the term "Simulator" at some future time. LM might also have wanted to NOT use the term "Simulator" immediately, since it is currently very much associated with gaming.The high development cost of FS versions for entertainment only, was obviously a problem.With a new partner and an expanded market, the ballgame changed very substantially.AR

In the UK (and elsewhere for all I know) there's a saying "If my Aunt had b**ls she'd be my Uncle."

the ESP thing is a one time deal for the code. MS has absolutely nothing to do with Prepar3d, they already cashed the cheque and wrote a ton of their own code. Prepar3d is training software for a variety of purposes..., Flight is a flight simulator game it's that easy.

the ESP thing is a one time deal for the code. MS has absolutely nothing to do with Prepar3d, they already cashed the cheque and wrote a ton of their own code. Prepar3d is training software for a variety of purposes..., Flight is a flight simulator game it's that easy.

And you reckon that LM won't be interested in MS FLIGHT code to enhance Prepare3D ? And perhaps Vice Versa ?Same "game", different markets?AR

And you reckon that LM won't be interested in MS FLIGHT code to enhance Prepare3D ? And perhaps Vice Versa ?Same "game", different markets?AR

No why would they? They already have enough programmers. Union rules you know.... and LM is trying to put distance between them, that won't help. Bottom line it's been forked once... LM would have to rewrite everything if they were to start with a new base every two years.

Anyone know if Prepare3D offers Virtual display presentation- ie paning & zooming? Or 2D only?. I have a recollection that the FAA won't approve a Flight Training Device unless instr. panel components remain in a fixed screen location.------------In any event, the secrets and mysteries of "Flight" shall be known to all in the fullness of time!AR

I just got back home from driving up to GDC and seeing old friends in the Bay Area. I don't miss the game business that much. More fun playing them than making them!At GDC I ran into one of my old co-workers who introduced me to a gentleman he knows from Microsoft Game Studios (but he said he was not on the Flight team).After proclaiming myself a big fan, he wouldn't/couldn't tell me much, other than these tidbits:1. Flight was called Flight simply as a marketing decision. Made to appeal to a wider audience instead of scaring newbies away. The "hard core" crowd (presumably "us") will understand it is a simulation underneath (though from some of the threads I have read on this board some people still don't get it).2. The Flight team is much smaller than ACES was, but there are a few former ACES people in it (and some not). ACES was working on ESP, Trains, and Flight Sim 11 when they were closed. 3. Flight team is still part of Microsoft Game Studios, which does mostly Xbox and Kinect games. Flight and Age of Empires are the only PC titles going on from Microsoft now, but they both look pretty good (Age has been out in beta for several months now). 4. Lockheed Martin/Prepar3d have nothing to do with the new Flight team, and vice versa. It was a licensing deal done when ACES was closed down to try to recover some of the investment in ESP. Some ACES people went to work at Lockheed Martin.5. ESP killed ACES. Train Sim and Flight Sim were smaller teams but ESP was sucking in all the studio resources and since it was in the Games Studios the managers of MGS killed it. ESP was targetted for military, government, education, etc., and not making money for the Games Studios so they didn't want to keep investing in it. 6. Unknown ship date (not announced) or final features. That is not uncommon in the game business when you are still a while from shipping because you don't know what will make it in and what will come out by the time you are done. Things change during development. Some things go in, some come out. Beyond that, he didn't know much about the product specifically other than the same demos we have seen on the web site.January, your conspiracy theory is fun to read but I don't now how real it will turn out to be (see point # 4). That said, maybe this was just a story to throw you off the scent and it really IS a conspiracy. The Lockheed Martin and Microsoft black helicopters will be circling at any moment. :( Other notes from GDC: Lots of debate about how casual/social games and cheap apps (such as iPhone) are killing/helping/hurting/evolving/changing/destroying the game business. Seemed to be the big subject this year.PC gaming is not dying but it is evolving. Many discussions/sessions about how games are moving to digital distribution/sales. Big increases at places like Steam, World of Warcraft, Direct2Drive, and so on. Electronic Arts said they did over $700 million in online revenue last year! One speaker noted the "barbell effect" where there are many cheaper/downloadable/portable games at one end, and then a few really big triple-A titles at the other end, and games in the middle are getting squeezed out. Activision shut down franchises like Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk so they can invest big in Call of Duty. So it isn't just Microsoft.

Great post, Dog_Is_My_Copilot!Cheers,- jahman.

-------------January, your conspiracy theory is fun to read but I don't now how real it will turn out to be (see point # 4). That said, maybe this was just a story to throw you off the scent and it really IS a conspiracy. The Lockheed Martin and Microsoft black helicopters will be circling at any moment. :(------------

Dog- my comments not intended as "conspiracy". Just a SWAG along parallel lines of thought that Ford Ranger PUs are not built by by Ford but, I believe, by Mazda. In these days of cross licensing, it's hard to tell who really does what!. I have a monitor that has an IBM decal on it, but IBM didn't build it!AR

I just got back home from driving up to GDC and seeing old friends in the Bay Area. I don't miss the game business that much. More fun playing them than making them!At GDC I ran into one of my old co-workers who introduced me to a gentleman he knows from Microsoft Game Studios (but he said he was not on the Flight team).

Finally someone on the ground! Yeah I've long given up on Gamespot and the like to do any reporting on Flight Sim. I think as many platforms as they proclaim to use, the PC doesn't seem to be one of them.Also in case you or January or anyone else is interested www.fsbreak.net has a very recent interview with LC about Prepar3d. I won't ruin the surprise but lets say they have a very short term memory regarding Aces/MS.

Anyone know if Prepare3D offers Virtual display presentation- ie paning & zooming? Or 2D only?. I have a recollection that the FAA won't approve a Flight Training Device unless instr. panel components remain in a fixed screen location.

HiPrepar3D can do both and if it is used in an FAA approved device, the panel views are simply fixed in place if the device is using soft panels. FAA don't care what other features the software has as long as the device that is being qualified meets the requirements as tested.DR1