Blizzard and Valve Begin Legal Battle Over DOTA Name

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Currently, we have not one but two new Defense of the Ancients games in development; one by Blizzard and the other by Valve. Blizzard is making Blizzard DOTA while Valve is making Dota 2, and there has been no issue between the two so far. The original DOTA was a mod for Warcraft III, a Blizzard game, and Blizzard DOTA is a mod for StarCraft II. Valve's Dota 2 is a standalone sequel to the original mod, and has one of the original developers, Icefrog, working on it. Today, some interesting court documents have surfaced as Blizzard is challenging Valve's trademark application of the DOTA name.

Valve filed for the trademark in 2010, shortly before beginning work on Dota 2. Blizzard has never tried to trademark the name due to DOTA being associated with Blizzard for so long. Now Blizzard says if Valve obtains the right to use the name then "damage and injury" will come to itself. It is interesting to note that Valve is calling its game Dota 2 and makes no mention of "the Ancients" in the name, but Blizzard takes offence regardless.

This legal battle could stretch out for some time, especially since the court documents outline a timeline stretching into 2013. Blizzard DOTA and Dota 2 do not have confirmed release dates, and depending on the outcome in the courts, it could be a while for either one.

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GmAz on February 10, 2012 08:46PM What BS. If Valve files for the trademark in 2010 and has a game called DOTA already out that is a stand alone game, Blizz has nothing to say about it buy cry in their corner because they didn't do it first. reply to this

ClayMeow on February 10, 2012 11:21PM Ugh, you should really think before you type...or even better, read up first. First off, Valve does NOT have a game called DOTA - they currently have Dota 2 in beta testing, the first "DOTA" game they've developed. The original DOTA was a free mod for Warcraft III, not made by Blizzard, but by the fan community. Blizzard is not fighting for rights to the trademark, but rather to prevent Valve from trademarking it because then Valve could prevent others from using it, like in Blizzard's upcoming Blizzard DOTA. Even if Valve won the trademark, I highly doubt they'd seek an injunction against Blizzard for its use, but still, the threat would be there. Furthermore, Blizzard doesn't even have a problem with Valve using "Dota" in their game's name (at least they haven't publicly said so), because they feel the name is "owned" by the community (though technically Blizzard's community, not Valve's, and actually, if Blizzard wants to be strict with its EULA, anything made with the Warcraft III World Editor, which DOTA was, is their property). reply to this

ClayMeow on February 10, 2012 11:24PM Also, to bp9801, it's highly unlikely this filing will affect the release of Dota 2, as Blizzard is not seeking an injunction against it, they're simply opposing the registration of the trademark. Not the same thing. reply to this

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