Despite disagreeing with Valve’s motion to trademark the word “DOTA,” only recently has Blizzard began to take legal action, challenging the rival firm’s application by appealing to the US Patent and Trademark Office.
For those in the dark, DOTA or Defense Of The Ancients was originally the name for a Warcraft III mod. The condensed blend of PvP combat and intense team strategy proved insanely popular, DOTA soon spawning its very own genre under which games such as Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends have boomed.
With nearly 12 million players plugged into League of the Legends alone (taken Nov 2011) it’s no surprise that other developers have been trying to carve their name into DOTA’s fruitful legacy. One such developer, Valve, did just this but took things just that little bit further by naming its upcoming project as DOTA 2, also looking to buy up the DOTA trademark.
Having technically been the creation of a modder, Blizzard is still fighting to block Valve’s application regardless, stating that “Over the past seven years, the mark DOTA has been used exclusively in connection with Blizzard and its products, namely Warcraft III.”
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.
At last year’s BlizzCon, the World of Warcraft studio announced Blizzard DOTA, the firm’s very own take on the genre featuring iconic characters from games such as Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo III.
With two of the biggest names in PC gaming going head to head it will be interesting to see which game comes out on top though there is also the possibility that League of Legends will continue to maintain its dominant status.
Scotty34
hmmm, guess this will be dragged out for a while. Personaly if I saw DOTA2 on the shelf I would immediatly associate Blizzard with it, because of my days of WC3.
So I sway towards Blizzards claim, but also Blizzard have created this genre and they shouldnt be allowed to be the only company to have the use of the word?
rossthebassist
Addmitadly i have never heard of DOTA, however the tearm DOTA2 would lead me to search for DOTA 1 lol which would bring me to blizzards product.
So whilst i think blizzard have no rights to a genre, i lean towards the argument that people intrested in the game would be led to blizzards warcraft III. now this could lead to sales for blizzard… but i see there point from an association stand point.
Deathbrin
Umm, a map/mod is surely property of its maker and not some publisher or developer?
MayContainEvil
There’s probably some clause in the terms of service/licensing agreement that states all material made for the game using the mod toolset are the property of the game creators. Or some other legal faff to the same effect.