Blizzard is currently developing Blizzard DOTA. Valve is currently developing DOTA 2. In August of 2010, Valve decided to file a trademark for “DOTA”, despite the name being community shorthand for the style of gameplay pioneered by the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III. Blizzard has answered Valve’s filing with a Notice of Opposition submitted on November 16 to the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
“By this Opposition, Blizzard seeks to prevent registration by its competitor Valve Corporation ("Valve") of a trademark, DOTA, that for more than seven years has been used exclusively by Blizzard and its fan community, under license from Blizzard. By virtue of that use, the DOTA mark has become firmly associated in the mind of consumers with Blizzard, including to signify a highly popular scenario or variant of one of Blizzard's best-selling computer games, Warcraft III,” Blizzard stated in its document.
“In contrast to Blizzard, Applicant Valve Corporation ("Valve") has never used the mark DOTA in connection with any product or service that currently is available to the public. By attempting to register the mark DOTA, Valve seeks to appropriate the more than seven years of goodwill that Blizzard has developed in the mark DOTA and in its Warcraft III computer game and take for itself a name that has come to signify the product of years of time and energy expended by Blizzard and by fans of Warcraft III. Valve has no right to the registration it seeks.”
Valve responded in December, admitting that Blizzard is the developer of Warcraft, from which DOTA sprung. Valve’s response goes on to deny any knowledge of any of Blizzard’s following claims.
Who will win the vicious legal cage match?
[Via Eurogamer]
