Blizzard is Suing Valve - Polidicks

[url]http://kotaku.com/5883938/blizzard-is-suing-valve[/url] [quote] [h=1]Blizzard and Valve go to Court Over [I]DOTA[/I] Name[/h] Blizzard once made a game called [I]WarCraft III.[/I] Then someone made an awesome mod for it called [I]DOTA[/I]. Then Valve decided to make a game called [I]DOTA 2[/I]. Then Blizzard decided to make something called [I]Blizzard DOTA[/I]. And now Blizzard is taking Valve to court over the whole thing. What a [I]mess[/I]. Two of the most successful and popular PC developers of all time are squaring off in court over the use of the term [I]DOTA[/I], which stands for [I]Defence of the Ancients[/I]. In 2010, Valve - who is working on a successor to the original called [I]DOTA 2[/I] - began attempts to trademark the word "[I]DOTA[/I]", despite the fact it had no historical connection to the property or the genre. At the time, [URL="http://kotaku.com/5672461/blizzard-says-valves-dota-trademark-doesnt-seem-the-right-thing-to-do"]Blizzard said some unkind things publicly about the move[/URL], but didn't seem to take things any further. It has now. Arguing before the US Patent and Trademark Office's Trial and Appeal Board in an attempt to have Valve's trademark application blocked, Blizzard says that, because the term [I]DOTA[/I] has been used by the company's games and fans for seven years, "the [I]DOTA[/I] mark has become firmly associated in the mind of consumers with Blizzard". Valve, on the other hand, well...here's what Blizzard has to say about Valve's upcoming [I]DOTA 2[/I]: 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. If such registration is issued, it not only will damage Blizzard, but also the legions of Blizzard fans that have worked for years with Blizzard and its products, including by causing consumers to falsely believe that Valve's products are affiliated, sponsored or endorsed by Blizzard and are related or connected to Warcraft III. Getting into the fine print, Blizzard says that, because the original [I]DOTA[/I] required [I]WarCraft III[/I] to play - and because it's been using and licensing the term to other companies - that while it doesn't have a trademark on the term, it's got a better case for one than Valve. In a filing dated November 16, 2011, Blizzard wrote that it "respectfully requests that this Opposition be granted" to Valve's attempts to trademark DOTA (and "Defense of the Ancients", and "DotA", and "Dota").[/quote] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUH3JQjcweM[/media]

They go to court, ends up being who ever has the most money to blow in court. Valve runs low they release EP3 and have funds to buy blizzard five times over

Wow, fuck off Blizzard

I don't see how Blizzard could win this one. If anything it's just giving Dota 2 more publicity.

"Delay Diablo III again, we just found a better way to make money !" [editline]10th February 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Super Muffin;34630838]I don't see how Blizzard could win this one. If anything it's just giving Dota 2 more publicity.[/QUOTE] What if it's actually a plot between valve and blizzard for clever undercover marketing ?

Blizzard is definitely going to lose.

I understand where Blizzard is coming from, it's kind of a dick move on Valve's part to go and trademark the name of a mod from someone else's game

I can't say I saw it coming, but I can certainly say I'm not surpised at this. Blizzard is "kind of" right in their reason, barely so, but it's still a dickmove.

This was to be expected.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34630860]I understand where Blizzard is coming from, it's kind of a dick move on Valve's part to go and trademark the name of a mod from someone else's game[/QUOTE] This, Valve should of been a tiny bit smarter

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34630860]I understand where Blizzard is coming from, it's kind of a dick move on Valve's part to go and trademark the name of a mod from someone else's game[/QUOTE] the more I think about this the more I want Blizzard to win

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34630860]I understand where Blizzard is coming from, it's kind of a dick move on Valve's part to go and trademark the name of a mod from someone else's game[/QUOTE] But I thought the maker of DOTA was working on the sequel. If that's the case then I see no issue and Blizzard needs to chill.

[QUOTE=Chicken_Chaser;34630885]But I thought the maker of DOTA was working on the sequel. If that's the case then I see no issue and Blizzard needs to chill.[/QUOTE] Blizzard made the game that allowed DOTA to exist in the first place Valve is attempting to profit off what a completely unrelated modding community did

it does make sense if you read the document itself. don't mindlessly bash blizzard, [URL="http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=91202572&pty=OPP&eno=1"]give it a read.[/URL]

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34630860]I understand where Blizzard is coming from, it's kind of a dick move on Valve's part to go and trademark the name of a mod from someone else's game[/QUOTE] But that's what it is, a mod. Blizzard have no more claim to it than Valve do.

Icefrog owns DOTA, not Blizzard. They are just trying desperately to get back at Valve for actually acting on the opportunity to make the sequel to an extremely successful WC3 map. They want a piece of the pie, they can't have it, now they are pissy. Legally, I have no idea if Icefrog trademarked his mod, or if he was even able to. But even then, the name and concept belong to him more than Blizzard.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34630860]I understand where Blizzard is coming from, it's kind of a dick move on Valve's part to go and trademark the name of a mod from someone else's game[/QUOTE] Well it was a lost chance on Blizzards part, they didn't pick up the people or the mod for so many years. And Valve has done this with Team Fortress and Alien Swarm which were also on different engines, just because it's a mod on a different engine/Blizzard game doesn't mean Blizzard really owns it, the people who made the mod own the IP and Valve got them

I was always thinking that Valve bought the trademark from Blizzard It wasn't very nice of Valve

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34630884]the more I think about this the more I want Blizzard to win[/QUOTE] If I was blizzard, I'd be mad

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34630890]Blizzard made the game that allowed DOTA to exist in the first place Valve is attempting to profit off what a completely unrelated modding community did[/QUOTE] I'll side with the mod-maker. Especially since the mod had nothing to do with the WC IP.

the emotional appeal won't hold up in a court of law nor will their legal bit of licensing it out, they never had any rights to license it

valve is commercially developing a game titled "DOTA 2", blizzard released a game that was modded by a community member and named "DOTA" gee i wonder who has a better case here, piss off blizzard

[QUOTE=superstepa;34630912]I was always thinking that Valve bought the trademark from Blizzard It wasn't very nice of Valve[/QUOTE] Did Blizzard even own the trademark for the first one As far as I know it was a third party mod which had nothing to do with Blizzard.

I would think the guy who thought up DOTA would own the name, even if was made using Blizzard's tools.

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;34630932]Did Blizzard even own the trademark for the first one As far as I know it was a third party mod which had nothing to do with Blizzard.[/QUOTE] No, they just used it a lot. In my opinion, the original creator of the mod should have the legal right to carry the trademark he effectively created to where ever he is currently employed (i.e. Valve).

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;34630932]Did Blizzard even own the trademark for the first one As far as I know it was a third party mod which had nothing to do with Blizzard.[/QUOTE] but it had even less to do with Valve

Icefrog has the rights to the game and went with valve, it's a pretty clear case. Yeah people associate DotA with Warcraft III but that's clearly not where Icefrog wanted to go.

[QUOTE=nicatronTg;34630943]No, they just used it a lot. In my opinion, the original creator of the mod should have the legal right to carry the trademark he effectively created to where ever he is currently employed (i.e. Valve).[/QUOTE] that's also a valid argument and what the court will need to decide

What a fucking joke, grow up Blizzard.

This just in, Blizzard also suing Basshunter.