How WWE Can Trademark Vice City Without Upsetting GTA Developers

WWE has filed a trademark for the term Vice City. It’s believed it will be used to promote Lola Vice, who will be making her main roster debut any day now. However, the first thing most people think of when they read the words Vice City is Grand Theft Auto, which raises questions as to how exactly WWE might be able to get away with potentially infringing on the blockbuster video game series’ copyright.

Trademarking Vice City Without Incurring Rockstar’s Wrath

The trademark filing, shared by Fightful, references wrestling performances, live events, and television, but, naturally, makes no mention of video games. That might be why WWE can potentially get away with using the term Vice City without risking the wrath of Rockstar Games. As big as GTA might be, its world is, for the most part, restricted to video games.

That said, there is a lot of grey area here, which is why it surprises me somewhat that WWE is willing to take the risk. On the one hand, GTA Vice City was released in 2002. Even though it has been remastered, it’s an old game. If WWE were trying to trademark the name of a newer Rockstar title, then there might be a bigger problem.

The thing is, Vice City is about to be revived via GTA 6. The location will return for what is set to be the biggest video game of all time. Rockstar almost certainly has its own Vice City trademarks in place, but since it hasn’t fought back against the new WWE filing, there is presumably no overlap.

WWE Wants A Slice Of The GTA 6 Pie

Vice City’s return to the series this November is almost certainly why WWE is keen to use the term if it can get away with it. Gamer or not, the world is thinking about GTA 6, and its dominance of all things pop culture is only going to grow as we get closer to its release. If people think of Lola Vice when they hear Vice City, then that’s a huge plus for WWE.

An issue could arise when it comes to using the term in WWE 2K27. If Vice City becomes a core part of Vice’s persona, then it might need to be in the game. This is where the area gets greyer than ever. Again, there is no mention of video games in WWE’s trademark, and for good reason. However, WWE might be able to get away with using the term Vice City in its next game since Rockstar and 2K are both owned by the same parent company, Take-Two Interactive.

All in all, this all just feels incredibly risky. WWE clearly thinks it’s a punt worth taking though, and that the potential rewards outweigh the risk. I guess even if Rockstar does get upset, all that’ll happen is the studio asks WWE to stop, in which case it will. Best case scenario, Rockstar is fine with it, and WWE can kind of ride on the coattails of GTA 6 a little bit.