Valve's ongoing policy of keeping Half-Life 3 as top secret as possible took a hit this week when a new trademark and possible hints about the dev team were uncovered.

On Tuesday, a trademark for Half-Life 3 was found on the European Registration Office website. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be such a big deal. Trademarks are filed all the time just to keep the name in the property of the original holder, with some never even used at all. However, in this instance a second Half-Life 3-related leak gives some credence to the idea Valve may actually finally be readying an official announcement of some sort... maybe.

According to CVG, Valve's proprietary project management system was accidentally opened to public access. In that small window of time, the development team for Half-Life 3 was reportedly spotted. The team consists of 10 core members, with an additional 46 staffers assisting on the job. While there's still no real concrete evidence Half-Life 3 is in development, the management system was closed off quickly. Valve would have wanted that kind of information kept private regardless of Half-Life 3's attachment, but the expediency of Valve's actions could mean the leak is legit.

Regardless, we're all on Valve time when it comes learning anything more. Hopefully Valve won't keep fans in the lurch much longer, as Half-Life 3 is easily the most anticipated sequel of all-time.

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