After several months of confusion over the rights to the 'Dota' label, Valve Software and Blizzard Entertainment have settled their differences and have decided terms for how each studio will use the Defense of the Ancients-inspired name.
Under this new agreement, Valve will continue to use the trademark on a commercial level for products such as its upcoming action strategy game Dota 2, while Blizzard will be able to use the name in relation to player-created maps for WarCraft III and StarCraft II.
Since Blizzard can only use the 'Dota' name for its player-created content, the studio has decided to rename Blizzard DOTA (an official StarCraft II mod) to Blizzard All-Stars.
The 'Dota' name originally derives from the WarCraft III mod Defense of the Ancients, a 2003 release that sparked a new genre of real time strategy, now often referred to as MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena).
In 2010, Valve shocked the industry when it trademarked and announced Dota 2, which the studio was developing in collaboration with long-time Defense of the Ancients designer IceFrog.
At the time, Blizzard said it was baffled that Valve had trademarked the name, as the company had never before used the 'Dota' label for any of its games or products. In early 2012, the WarCraft III developer filed a U.S. trademark opposition to stop Valve from using the name altogether.
In the midst of this controversy, League of Legends developer Riot games filed its own trademark to protect the 'Defense of the Ancients' name, claiming it belongs to the community and not a single game studio. Gamasutra contacted Riot regarding the status of its previous filing, but has not heard back as of press time.
Under this new agreement, Valve will continue to use the trademark on a commercial level for products such as its upcoming action strategy game Dota 2, while Blizzard will be able to use the name in relation to player-created maps for WarCraft III and StarCraft II.
Since Blizzard can only use the 'Dota' name for its player-created content, the studio has decided to rename Blizzard DOTA (an official StarCraft II mod) to Blizzard All-Stars.
The 'Dota' name originally derives from the WarCraft III mod Defense of the Ancients, a 2003 release that sparked a new genre of real time strategy, now often referred to as MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena).
In 2010, Valve shocked the industry when it trademarked and announced Dota 2, which the studio was developing in collaboration with long-time Defense of the Ancients designer IceFrog.
At the time, Blizzard said it was baffled that Valve had trademarked the name, as the company had never before used the 'Dota' label for any of its games or products. In early 2012, the WarCraft III developer filed a U.S. trademark opposition to stop Valve from using the name altogether.
In the midst of this controversy, League of Legends developer Riot games filed its own trademark to protect the 'Defense of the Ancients' name, claiming it belongs to the community and not a single game studio. Gamasutra contacted Riot regarding the status of its previous filing, but has not heard back as of press time.
It looks like Blizzard lost the trademark and now have to rename it's coming SC2 Dota to Blizzard All-Stars.
On May 12 2012 16:01 Geo.Rion wrote:
We will have to call it BAS, which said out loud sounds exactly like the Hungarian word for fuck, oh well
We will have to call it BAS, which said out loud sounds exactly like the Hungarian word for fuck, oh well
On May 12 2012 16:03 Jinsho wrote:
It's a settlement, Blizzard have not lost it. They both decided not to let it go to a lawsuit since Valve has a DOTA2 release coming up very shortly and Blizzard does not want to commercialise the name anyways. Valve most likely made some undisclosed concessions to Blizzard.
It's a settlement, Blizzard have not lost it. They both decided not to let it go to a lawsuit since Valve has a DOTA2 release coming up very shortly and Blizzard does not want to commercialise the name anyways. Valve most likely made some undisclosed concessions to Blizzard.