Blizzard and Valve at War Over DOTA Name

[ElMoIsEviL]

DOTA is public domain. That much is apparent. IP is Theft.

 

[stalker7d7]

I'm siding with Valve on this one. Blizzards pulling a dick move. DOTA was a mod for their game, created by someone other than them. They had more than enough time to develop upon it. But they didn't, so Valve took the opportunity. As it was clear Blizzard wasn't going to do anything with it. They're just bickering now.

 

[humand]

Well that's what Valve gets for not focusing on the HL series. As much as I want Valve to win over Blizzard/Activision that's how much I want them to realize the time they spend on DOTA should of been spent on the HL series. And no, we dont want L4D3 or TF3 before HL3/HL2Ep3.

 

[f-14]

i would like to see CanWest sue them all for stealing their moniker for star gate.
but then again i am still waiting for paramount to sue apple for stealing it's intellectual property rights.

 

[Solandri]

[citation][nom]NuclearShadow[/nom]Incorrect, it is clear that they are trying to block Valve from using the name DOTA is goes beyond the trademark. Also how are you claiming that Blizzard gave birth to it? Sure Warcraft 3 was used as a tool to make DOTA but Blizzard themselves did not make DOTA.[/citation]
Nope, Blizzard is pretty much doing the only thing they can. Trademarks are not like copyrights or patents. You have to enforce them or you lose the trademark. So if Valve got a trademark on DOTA, they would have to sue Blizzard or Blizzard's mod makers to get them to stop using the name DOTA, or Valve would lose the DOTA trademark. The way trademark law works, the only way to keep the DOTA name free for anyone to use back when it was first used was for Blizzard and the mod makers not to trademark it. Which is what they did (or rather didn't).

Food for thought: There are only 26^4 = 456,976 possible 4-letter acronyms. There are about 7 million businesses in the U.S. with hundreds of millions if not billions of products. A significant fraction of those products will have 4-word names and thus can be abbreviated to a 4-letter acronym. Granting trademarks for short acronyms of product names is a really, really dumb idea. You'll quickly end up with every possible 4-letter acronym trademarked, just like every 4-letter .com domain name has been grabbed by speculators.

Trademark the full name. Short acronyms should be free for anyone to use.

 

[Guest]

A couple things, Valve is NOT trademarking DOTA. They are trademarking Dota 2, completely different from what several people on here are portraying. Secondly, the originally dev, Eul, IS working for Valve, Newell has said that several times, not to mention the current and longest running dev Icefrog. They obviously give their blessing to Valve or they wouldn't work there.

Blizzard has no case and they know it. To be honest, I think they are just acting like they care just for goodwill and nothing else. They haven't cared for the mods ever before, it's funny they care now.

 

[randomizer]

test comment

 

[demonhorde665]

[citation][nom]Parsian[/nom]If Blizzard has the right, I would say to Blizzard: "SWAP IT FOR HL3 FRANCHISE" since VALVE seems to have no interest in developing its iconic IP but in very interested in neighbours' grass. I bet you if blizzard with its massive money, hired the original cast and crew, and developed HL3, it would have been something.[/citation]


i think a head crab must have jumped on the wrong side of you , and managed to suck your head down through your a-- hole. you sound like you think blizzard can do no wrong.(aka fanboy).
now don't get me wrong i honeslty think valve is in the wrong here
just hate hearing people say stupid fanboy s--t like this.
first off , blizard hasn't developed an original IP themselves in almost 2 decades
they are just riding the wave of past sucesses with sequels and mmo's that emulate previous IP's. i hoenstly don't think they have the capacity to be creative enough to come up with any thing new any more. granted Valve is also guilty of lacking originality themselves . they do have a few more reccent new ip's under their belt than what blizzard has. lastly blizzad has always been exclusively RTS adn RPG developers , WHY on god's green earth do you think this woudl qualify them for being able to make a half decent FPSer ? when companies specialize and then try differnt genre's it NEVER goes well. blizzard has speclised for almost 2 decades , i doubt thier poeple would understand teh modern desires from FPSer fans enough to create a compellling shooter.

 

[Tab54o]

I like valve and their games Blizzard can suck it. Valve is one of the last good PC game devs left.

 

[Tab54o]

BTW Valve has hired the creators of DOTA therefore they win.

 

[Guest]

Stop hogging and start sharing..

 

[unclen00b]

Blizzard makes a compelling argument. The biggest problem is this was a mod of their game and the name just stuck. But since NO ONE registered the name, it's technically open fair. It would be a shame for some other company besides Blizzard (or the mod's devs) to make use of DOTA and detract it from whence it came, but copyright is in place for a reason. And unfortunately, I don't see how this can be stopped unless Blizzard or the dev(s) of the original DOTA mod register the name first.

What about "BOOM, HEADSHOT!" being taken over by Blizzard? They don't have a fps to go with it, but same difference IMO. It is one of those things that was borne of the community and not ever registered (that I'm aware of).

 

[JerryC]

[citation][nom]amdfangirl[/nom]If Blizzard wanted to give gamers 'goodwill' they would let DOTA 2 release.[/citation]

What the hell for? Blizzard has proof that they have been using it for years and Valve hasn't. Its that simple. Valve can re title their offering fairly easy, so this registration appears to be nothing more than Valve setting things up for future litigation against Blizzard. Blizzard should win this with minimal effort.

 

[JerryC]

[citation][nom]unclen00b[/nom]Blizzard makes a compelling argument. The biggest problem is this was a mod of their game and the name just stuck. But since NO ONE registered the name, it's technically open fair. It would be a shame for some other company besides Blizzard (or the mod's devs) to make use of DOTA and detract it from whence it came, but copyright is in place for a reason. And unfortunately, I don't see how this can be stopped unless Blizzard or the dev(s) of the original DOTA mod register the name first.What about "BOOM, HEADSHOT!" being taken over by Blizzard? They don't have a fps to go with it, but same difference IMO. It is one of those things that was borne of the community and not ever registered (that I'm aware of).[/citation]

If you can prove that it was originally your idea or that you have been using it publicly for years then they cant issue the trademark.

 

[preypacer]

[citation][nom]xerroz[/nom]Blizzard's Warcraft 3 Map editor clearly states in the EULA that anything made or used in the map editor is property of Blizzard and can be claimed as such. Therefore Valve (who are being nothing by opportunists by making Dota 2 in the first place) shouldn't have a case in the matter.[/citation]

Well, for one, Blizzard doesn't own the name DOTA, or the whole Trademark issue wouldn't exist in the first place. It would already belong to Blizzard.

They can "own" the specific version of DOTA running on their engine/software. They do not, however, own the name or, again, the TM would already be theirs and it would be a non-issue.

Third, you say VALVe are being nothing but opportunists since they are making DOTA 2. Well, from my understanding, DOTA2 was being made *anyway*. VALVe saw an opportunity in bringing more talented designers/developers into their fold - just as they have in the past with Portal, etc. This brings several variables into it that I think are worth mentioning.

1. The designers/developers of DOTA2 are now being *paid* to do what they do. VALVe is investing in these people and paying them a salary to work as professional game developers.

By contrast, Blizzard was happy to sit back and reap the benefits of people buying WC3, in order to play something that wasn't of their invention (DOTA).

Blizzard could have hired these people on. But they didn't. They've been content to sit back and get the milk for free. VALVe, meanwhile, has invested in DOTA and its creators, in the form of full-time jobs and the support of their own team of designers and developers within VALVe to create and support the product.

So, I think you have it backwards. Blizzard have been the opportunists for the past seven years, happily getting the milk for free. VALVe are the ones actually rewarding DOTA/DOTA2's creators by investing in them, and their concept.

2. The name, Defense of The Ancients, belongs to its creators - not to Blizzard. Blizzard owns the content and the engine. Not the name. Again, if that were the case, the whole TM thing would not be an issue to begin with.

Blizzard reaped all the benefits of DOTA, but never invested a dime in compensating those people for the years of work they did on it.

VALVe is investing in it and putting actual money, resources and man-hours into the project. If anyone deserves to have the TM, it's VALVe, if the creators of DOTA wish to have it that way.