Source: http://www.destructoid.com/blizzard-is-suing-valve-over-dota-trademark-221476.phtml

tl;dr - Blizzard is suing Valve for the trademark name "DOTA" or Defense of the Ancients.

In an act that I would only call distasteful, Blizzard has filed against valve for using the DOTA name on their upcoming game, DOTA 2, as you all should know. They claim that "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."

As one commentator have said, "It's like watching your parents fighting over who's more proud of you, and the answer is neither" (Professional Jared)

I think that this seemingly innocuous lawsuit underlines the horrible culture and injustice that game developers and publishers face all the time. What I'm talking about is the fact that most of the intellectual property created by the game developers are owned by its publisher. It is an unfair and ultimately broken system that allows people who do not actually care about the game to file a copyright complaint or even take full control of it. Here's another POV of the same problem: Jimquisition's episode on Pirates (you will need to watch through some fat bloke faffing about, but his points are quite clear and concise)

Obviously this may seem beyond our control, but I think that SOPA/PIPA should've taught us to be more assertive. Also, as the consumers, we can choose what to buy, and the numbers at the end of the fiscal period speaks more than any amount of angry or even reasonably judgmental e-mails. The problem is, what alternatives are there?

If game developers are given more control over their intellectual properties, publishers will be less likely to take the risk and fund them, and we may see a decline in innovative games (or what's left of innovative games... pssh). So I don't really know how this issue can be resolved.

Going back to DOTA. We all know DOTA is a fan-made game, and Blizzard, just like b.net 2 and SC2 UMS, haven't lifted a finger to help make it become so massively popular as it is today. Ultimately, Blizzard should definitely lose this lawsuit. Not only is blizzard being a complete douchebag and is trying to claim something that isn't theirs, but because DOTA 1 was not under any business or corporate restrictions (not until it was handed over to Valve). If anybody finds more info about this, please post!

---

Extra Materials



Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Feb 12 2012, 12:42 am by UnholyUrine.

Going back to DOTA. We all know DOTA is a fan-made game, and Valve hasn't lifted a finger to help make it become so massively popular as it is today. Ultimately, Valve should definitely lose this lawsuit. Not only is Valve being a complete douchebag and is trying to claim something that isn't theirs, but because DOTA 1 was not under any business or corporate restrictions (not until it was Valve attempted to profit from it).


I actually really don't see why Blizzard shouldn't win this.

If Valve made "Temple Siege 2" and started selling it for money without giving you credit, you'd be pissed too. This is the same thing.

Although they did hold a DOTA 2 tournament with a first prize of $1,000,000. That's more than Blizzard has ever done for any of their games.

I'm not really sure which company has the better claim to the trademark. I'm surprised that this lawsuit wasn't launched a lot earlier, like as soon as Valve announced their game.

Why has Blizzard waited so long?

Also, associating Dota expressly with Blizzard and going as far as to sue over the trademark is a real 'fuck you' to mappers/modders. Same goes with Valve to a lesser extent with Dota 2, perhaps, though they at least get the original Dota creator to "justify" it...

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Feb 11 2012, 9:30 pm by Tuxedo-Templar.

I do; but allow me to elaborate.

1) Icefrog, the creator of DOTA, is working for Valve to develop DOTA 2.

2) The EULA may state that Blizzard owns the maps Icefrog created for Warcraft, and the intellectual property associated with it, but EULAs may not stand up in court.

Blizzard wants to profit off of a franchise that they did not create. Valve hired the creator and now wants to profit off of it. As far as I'm concerned, I don't think Blizzard will get the intellectual property rights they want.

Perhaps, though they could have done that had they called the game something else as well.

EDIT:
And to clarify, I realize that Blizzard didn't do anything to create DOTA (aside from creating WC3, I suppose) but Valve did even less. I'd give it to the company who actually had something to do with the creation of the original as opposed to the company that had absolutely nothing to do with DOTA.

I also get that there will always be Blizzard hate here, but I actually don't see an issue with them waiting to claim the name until another company tried to profit off it. Until now, they haven't had a reason to since no one was profiting from the name (including Blizzard).

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Feb 11 2012, 8:32 am by DevliN.

Right, and they may have a case if Valve didn't have Icefrog's permission or have him working for them. But they do, and that changes everything.

Obviously there is no case to make until some company starts to try and infringe on the trademark. The point is, Valve announced their game over a year ago, and held that $1m tournament I mentioned. Why is Blizzard just now bringing this to court? There's no mention of them having tried to reach a settlement with Valve. Perhaps they did, but in the absence of knowing that, it seems strange that they waited till now.

If someone other than UU went to Valve to have them make a standalone Temple Siege game, would that be okay? I see that as being the same as Icefrog saying it's fine to use DOTA even though he made and popularized a version of it as opposed to the original.

I'm actually not so sure they are just now doing this. A couple years ago, Blizzard changed the name of Blizzard DOTA to Blizzard All-Stars internally, perhaps due to legal reasons. It may just be that the case is finally going to court now, while a lot has been going on behind the scenes.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Feb 11 2012, 9:03 am by DevliN.

Blizzard and Valve are my two most favourite game companies. It pains me to see them fighting like this.

I think Valve is in the right though, they do have the original creator working with them afterall. It all depends on how much the original creator is entitled to the franchise legally. If the EULA is tight enough... he might not have any claim to the franchise at all.

DOTA is a WC3 map right? So if one creates a WC3 map with a certain name the name becomes Blizzard copyright? One can create unlimited number of WC3 maps with various names. Eventually Blizzard will end up owning the copyright to entire universe...

Icefrog should have all rights to continue his work in any company that supports/employs him.

Besides, wasn't AoS the 1st original map?

Besides, didn't AoS incorporate ideas from this map and that? A true causitive chain would have a staggering regress

Didn't quite get what you meant, but...