FATCAT - Registration search report (patent, copyright and trademark)

Report date: October 30, 2026
Subject: the FATCAT game (Randy Salo, Hewlett-Packard, 03/16/1981), part of "Games Pac II" for the HP-85. Variant: FATB.
Goal: check whether any patent, copyright or trademark registration exists in the name of HP/Hewlett-Packard, Randy Salo or any third party.

This report is not legal advice. The absence of a registration does not mean the absence of rights: copyright exists automatically from the moment a work is created.

1. Summary

Type	Source	Result
Patent	Google Patents	No related record
Copyright	U.S. Copyright Office (Public Records System)	No registration of FATCAT, FATB or Games Pac II as a computer program
Trademark	USPTO (tmsearch)	No mark owned by HP or tied to the original game; there are third-party "FAT CAT" marks in unrelated fields
Catalog of Copyright Entries 1981-82	Internet Archive	Not available online (only 1978 is digitized)

2. Sources and method

Copyright Office: the web page is an application that returns empty HTML. Searches were run directly against the API the page itself uses: api.publicrecords.copyright.gov/search_service_external/simple_search_dsl (parameters query, field_type, records_per_page, page_number). It covers records from 1978 onward.
USPTO: tmsearch API, phrase query on the wordmark field.
Google Patents: patents.google.com/xhr/query endpoint.
Internet Archive: advancedsearch.php API.

3. Searches performed and results

3.1 U.S. Copyright Office

#	Term	Field	Total	Relevant result
1	`fatcat`	keyword	42	Negative. Unrelated works: songs, recordings, Honda TR200 Fatcat service manuals (1987), children's books, art, screenplays
2	`fatcat`	title	32	Negative (same set)
3	`"fat cat"`	title	570 (all paged)	Negative. Up to 1986 only art, toys, songs and books (e.g. Fat Cat, Nancy Antle, 1981; Ronald Searle's Big Fat Cat Book, 1985). No "Computer Files"
4	`fat cat`	keyword	1,014 (paged)	Negative. Filtered by Text/Computer Files up to 1986: books only
5	`fatb`	keyword	0	Negative
6	`"games pac"`	keyword	6	Negative. Only HP-41C science-games Pac (Joseph F. Meyer, TXu 93-067, 1981; different machine and author), Pac-Man books and art
7	`"games pac"`	title	3	Negative (same Meyer record)
8	`"games pac ii"`	keyword and title	0	Negative
9	`"game pac"`	keyword	6	Negative
10	`"HP-85"`	keyword and title	20	Negative for games. 7225A/B plotter manuals (HP San Diego Division), Business graphics for the HP-85 (1980), DAEP85 (1983), Westinghouse programs
11	`"HP 85"`	keyword	20	Negative (same set)
12	`hp-85 game`	keyword	1	Negative
13	`"HP-85 games"`	keyword	0	Negative
14	`"HP-85" salo`	keyword	0	Negative
15	`"HP-85" pac`	keyword	0	Negative
16	`"HP-87"`	keyword	0	Negative
17	`"HP-83"`	keyword	0	Negative
18	`"HP-86"`	keyword	4	Negative for games (Metal, Well planning program)
19	`"series 80"`	keyword	77	Negative. HP plotter manuals and unrelated items
20	`"series 80" game`	keyword	0	Negative
21	`"Randy Salo"`	keyword	6	Negative. Only Randy M. Salo (b. 1980): works from 2006-2010 (screenplays/film)
22	`Salo, Randy`	keyword	6	Negative (same set)
23	`"Randall Salo"`	keyword	0	Negative
24	`"Everett Kaser"`	keyword	0	Negative
25	`Kaser`	keyword	241	Negative. Namesakes unrelated to software
26	`hewlett-packard`	keyword	1,500 (paged)	Negative for games. Computer Files 1980-83: Model 19800A waveform measurement library (HP, 1982) and third-party programs for HP machines
27	`hewlett-packard computer program`	keyword	349	Negative for games
28	`hewlett-packard games`	keyword	3	Negative (only Computerized master mind, Jan W. Slater, 1978)
29	`hewlett-packard games`	title	1	Negative
30	`"Hewlett-Packard" game`	title	1	Negative
31	`"Hewlett-Packard Company" game(s)`	keyword	0	Negative
32	`hewlett-packard pac`	keyword	2	Negative
33	`"application pac"` / `"Standard Pac"`	keyword	0 / 1	Negative
34	`"Capricorn" hewlett-packard`	keyword	0	Negative
35	`"fatcat" hewlett-packard` and `"fat cat" hewlett-packard`	keyword	0	Negative
36	`"fat cat" hp-85`	keyword	-	Request error (no valid result)
37	`"fat cat" game computer program`	keyword	0	Negative
38	`cat mouse cheese game` / `pac-man cat cheese maze` / `"mouse" cheese cat game hp`	keyword	6 / 0 / 0	Negative
39	`"cheese"`	title	-	Negative for games

Conclusion (Copyright Office): no registration of FATCAT, FATB or Games Pac II, in the name of HP, Randy Salo, Everett Kaser or any third party.

3.2 USPTO - Trademarks

#	Term	Total	Result
40	`FATCAT`	19	Negative for HP and for the game
41	`FAT CAT`	129	Negative for HP and for the game
42	`FATB`	0	Negative

Software/game marks found (none owned by HP, none filed before 1981 for software):

Mark	Owner	Filed	Goods/services	Status
FATCAT	Softlogic Solutions, Inc.	1989	Disk and file management programs	Cancelled
FATCAT	W. N. Sharpe Ltd.	1989	Physical toys and games	Abandoned
FATCAT PRODUCTIONS	Fatcat Productions Inc.	1984	R&B concerts	Cancelled
FAT CAT	New Gaming Systems	1999	Video slot machines	Cancelled
FAT CAT	Light & Wonder, Inc.	2020	Software for games of chance	Active
FAT CAT	Fat Cat, Inc. (VT)	1996 / 2000	Cat toys	Active
FAT CAT SOCIETY	Glasgow Dynamic Innovations	2022	Software for building applications	Active

3.3 Google Patents

#	Term	Filter	Result
43	`fatcat`	priority up to 1985	Negative. 6 irrelevant results (Bayer and Ind. Rayon chemical/textile patents, an insect-killing device)
44	inventor `Randy Salo`	priority up to 1990	Negative. 0 results

3.4 Internet Archive and other sources

#	Search	Result
45	Catalog of Copyright Entries, 1981-1982	Not found. Only the 1978 Fourth Series is digitized. Source not usable for 1981
46	`"Games Pac II"` or `fatcat HP-85` (full text)	Negative. 1 irrelevant result (Double-Take v2.1, Beagle Bros)
47	Wikipedia: `FATCAT HP-85 Games Pac`	No results
48	kaser.com/hp85.html	Distributes the Games Pac II and states that Everett Kaser wrote some of its arcade games. No copyright notice or registration information
49	Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo	Empty or unhelpful results, except for links already cited

4. Unsuccessful attempts (limits)

publicrecords.copyright.gov (web interface): empty HTML; solved through the API.
cocatalog.loc.gov (legacy catalog): connection error.
USPTO TSDR and the tmsearch web interface: not directly accessible; solved through the API.
The search is by text in titles and metadata. A record with a generic or very different title would not be found.
Records before 1978 and non-digitized documents require an official Search Request from the Copyright Office.
Patent and trademark records outside the U.S. were not consulted.

5. Conclusion

No patent, copyright or trademark registration was found in the name of HP, Randy Salo or any third party that matches the FATCAT game, the FATB variant or the Games Pac II. This is consistent with what Randy Salo reported, and with the idea that games of this kind were rarely patented or registered individually.

Back to home