Blizzard are launching a legal opposition to Valve’s attempt to trademark the name DOTA, ahead of the release of Valve’s Dota 2.
“By this Opposition, Blizzard seeks to prevent registration by its competitor Valve Corporation of a trademark, DOTA, that for more than seven years has been used exclusively by Blizzard and its fan community, under license from Blizzard,” stated 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 3.”
Blizzard’s argument mostly revolves the fact that DOTA was originally created as a mod for Warcraft 3, using tools designed for the game. When users install Warcraft 3, they must agree to the EULA (End User Licence Agreement), a document which states that all material created using said tools are Blizzard’s property.
“Over the past seven years, the mark DOTA has been used exclusively in connection with Blizzard and its products, namely Warcraft III,” reads Blizzard’s filing. “Most notably, DOTA has been used as the popular name of a Warcraft III software “mod” file that has been distributed, marketed, and promoted by Blizzard and its fans (under license from Blizzard).”
Valve’s argument, then, seems to hinge on whether or not the EULA grants Blizzard and real-world rights to the name DOTA and that when Valve decided to officially trademark DOTA in August 2010, they gained legal control of the term.
“Valve admits that the EULA contains a non-exclusive license agreement,” reads parts of Valve’s response. “The terms of the EULA speak for themselves and no admission or denial regarding the legal effect of the terms of the EULA is required.”
“Valve denies the use of DOTA marks by Valve and its predecessors in interest is under license from or for the benefit of Blizzard.”
It’s likely these proceedings could go on for some time, as Blizzard’s rebuttal period extends all the way to February 2013. But with Valve presumably wanting to release Dota 2 sometime in 2012, it’s a safe bet to say that there’ll be movement on the before then. We’ll keep you updated.
[Source - Blizzards original complaint - Valve's response.]
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