Blizzard: Valve Shouldn't Trademark DotA

[UnmotivatedSlacker]

Activision Blizzard:
Pissed they didn't think of it first.

One more idea Kotick will love though, copyrighting other people's ideas and getting money for it.

Awesome. ¬_¬

They had years to do it. The point they're making is that no one should own it.

Would you rather have nobody own it and there be no sequel?
Or Valve (who can do no wrong) own it and release a kickass sequel?

Wow, Valve can do no wrong? You really sound like a fanboy. They don't need to trademark it to make a game out of it. The only reason they would need to trademark it would be to keep everyone else from using it. Which they have no right to do considering they had no part in creating it. And no I'm neither a fan of Blizzard or Valve, but based on my observations, Valve is in the wrong. It's a community project and it should stay that way. If Blizzard understands this why can't Valve?

Half Life, Left 4 Dead Portal, Tf2? That's what I mean by Do No Wrong.
Their games tend to kick ass.
If there is anyone you want making your game, it's them.

...Ok, so they make good games. That still doesn't give them the right to trademark it.

 

[fundayz]

Bad try, but people refer HoN or LoL as DotA-like Games, and Maps like ECW 2005 as DotA-like maps.

Really if you play lot of DotA you know what I'm talking about. To DotA fans like us, DotA is more than a game, it is evolving to a Genre over time, since the creation of AoS.

People tried to give this Genre a name but always failed, people still refer them as DotA or DotA-Like. (moba (multiplayer online battle arena), Action RTS are just a few name that failed.)

/facepalm

It doesn't matter if a game started a genre. It doesn't matter if you can't make up a name for the genre. The fact remains that DoTA is only one of multiple games and mods of the same playstyle.

The game DoTA is not a genre. period.
It is a game, and games can be trademarked.

 

[drosalion]

Id have to side with blizzard on this one (I'm a fanboy to neither company, but if i was to either it would be Valve as the only game ive played made by either company is Counter-Strike).

There should be no issues with Valve making the game they're making, but they definitely should NOT be allowed to actually call it DOTA. DOTA has evolved to be pretty much a genre now, and if they want to make a game in that genre they should have to rename it to something like Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, etc like other companies have. Having _one_ of the developers, who wasnt even the original one, working with you shouldnt give you the right to the name. (For the record, Icefrog worked for Heroes of Newerth in the past, and another original DOTA developer works on League of Legends).

I'm not really sure that blizzard would deserve the right to copyright the term DOTA either, but if ANYONE does it definitely is NOT Valve. Blizzard is right in saying that it belongs with the community, as it rightfully should.

Secondly, even though all we've seen so far is some artwork for Valve's DOTA 2 - the models appear to be BLATENT rip-offs of that of Warcraft III's, and if they are all like that included in the final game then they definitely shouldnt be allowed to do that either.

If Valve were to make the same game they're making, assuming that none of the models/artwork/etc are blatent copies, and to rename it something other than DOTA, then i would see nothing wrong with what they're doing. If they continue to use the DOTA name though id definitely have to side with Blizzard on this one!

 

[Exort]

Yeah, but legally they are trademarking the -name-. Not the idea of it. Fans can name it whatever they like.

Yea, but if someone made a game called First person Shooter and trademark it do you think it should pass?
I think not.

 

[Baldr]

4: Valve really isn't doing any of this in spite, they're making a game called DOTA and trademarking the -name- of that game. The blizzard guy says he wasn't wild about it and he felt the name belonged to the community, whoopty doo. They wont be able to stop modders for making DotA mods at all, but they could stop someone for trying to sell another game called DOTA. It's pretty standard business procedure.

I would just like to add if trademark, they can enforce that even free Dota mods/games can not even be called that because they can be confused with trademark game.

I would like to know what they are actually trademarking. Is it Dota or Defense of the Ancients? probably both. My opinion is that Dota couldn't be, because it is now a category of games now.

 

[Marcus [email protected]]

Valve's Dota has been in the works for at least a year, It's developers include Icefrog, the lead developer of the original mod but not Guinsoo the original developer.

Where is he?

He's trademarked his own dota game!

NOTE: I would give this to Valve over Blizzard any day. Check the forums, no dota player seriously supports Blizzard anymore.

 

[Crasha]

On a side note, the people who keep posting http://icefrogtruth.blogspot.com/ are obviously morons and didn't follow this thread very well, since we've already established that several Valve employees has confirmed that this has nothing to do with the reality of the situation. Most likely an employee of Riot or S2 Games made that blog.

 

[Turtleboy1017]

Blizzard is just bitter that they didn't think to trademark the name first.

And that's a fact. They don't give a rats ass about any of the original creators of DotA OR the whole "integrity and purity of WC3 being a public domain".

 

[fundayz]

Yea, but if someone made a game called First person Shooter and trademark it do you think it should pass?
I think not.

Then you do not understand how trademarks work and should not be giving any input on the subject. Simply put, you do not know what you are talking about.

I could make a fps and call it First Person Shooter and trademark it.
I could make an action movie and call it Action Movie and trademark it.
I could make a sitcom called Sitcom and trademark it.

Trademarks cover titles and brands. It doesn't matter what the actual name is.

You should consider stopping posting in this thread. You keep making a fool of yourself.

 

[Exort]

No one should have the trademark for DotA.

There is no developer in the world that should.

Not Valve, Bioware, Bethesda, or Blizzard. NO ONE.

How about the guy that made it? ...oh yeah he works at Valve now.

People gotta understand that DoTA 2 is not just a remake of DoTA. Valve will most likely flesh out areas the game lacked in, and add other new features. Without a trademark, anyone can literally just copy and paste any content from the game, including brand new features and innovations.

Blizzard is just pissed that Valve is going to make a profit out of something that spawned in their game, even though they didn't have a hand in making it. Blizzard uses the "community" as an excuse, but if Valve is doing anything is supporting the game making sure it doesn't fade into obscurity.

you know Nothing about DotA...
The Concept start off as AoS a map in Starcraft.
Then Eul made DotA which is a Warcraft 3 version of AoS.
Then Guinsoo made DotA: Allstar which is a Fan made version of DotA.
Then Guinsoo left and leave Icefrog in charge of Updating the map.

Stop making a fool of youself.
Valve don't have the creator's support.

 

[Exort]

Yea, but if someone made a game called First person Shooter and trademark it do you think it should pass?
I think not.

Then you do not understand how trademarks work and should not be giving any input on the subject. Simply put, you do not know what you are talking about.

I could make a fps and call it First Person Shooter and trademark it.
I could make an action movie and call it Action Movie and trademark it.
I could make a sitcom called Sitcom and trademark it.

Trademarks cover titles and brands. It doesn't matter what the actual name is.

You should consider stopping posting in this thread. You keep making a fool of yourself.

Yes you can. But that is not the question. You can kill people too, but should you?
That is the question.
If you want to speak about legal.
Blizzard own the IP of DotA and DotA: Allstar it is part of the EULA of the WC3 editor, but they don't do that. It was in place just to ensure no one put censor content in the user made maps.
But Legally Blizzard own DotA's IP.
You should stop making a fool of yourself, from other of your posts it is quite clear you don't play DotA.

 

[Marcus [email protected]]

The creator of dota left to make his own game
Why isn't Blizzard going after him?

 

[Spencer Petersen]

While I really don't see Blizzard as being entirely benevolent in this situation you have to remember that they had 5 years to trademark the DOTA name and didn't do so, so I'm somewhat bewildered by the people claiming Blizzard is opposing Valve so they can claim it.

Now, because this was a community made game the rights of the game should still rest in the community. The game was made on the founding principles of sharing content for free and individual creativity, regardless of how the original creators feel about it. Remember that giving the original creators complete control over their intellectual property at the cost of everyone else hasn't always resulted in dynamite material (see George Lucas). Trademarking the name would betray these principles in favor of giving control to a company and putting a price tag on the new version. Now, the fact that the game is going to Valve makes no difference. Individual modders will now be discouraged by the fact that any work they do outside of Valve's DOTA will be usable as part of a lawsuit. Whether the company decides to pursue or not, it will still be a discouragement to individual modders.

This is kinda similar to the current marijuana laws in the United States, which state that medical marijuana use is illegal on the national level. Currently though, Obama has stated that the federal government will not enforce the anti-marijuana laws. Even though in reality there is no enforcement, there still is some deterrent there, and the possibility of being busted if the feds change their mind is still very strong.

 

[antipunt]

I don't really know what's going on, but to me, the only thing that really matters is that people are still allowed to create custom dota maps. If Valve isn't going to be lawsuit-trigger-happy, sounds alright to me I guess (big conditional 'if')

 

[The Lunatic]

Well, you've had a fair few years to trademark it, is it really much of a surprise that somebody beat you to it after how many years it's been?

 

[fundayz]

Yes you can. But that is not the question. You can kill people too, but should you?
That is the question.
If you want to speak about legal.
Blizzard own the IP of DotA and DotA: Allstar it is part of the EULA of the WC3 editor, but they don't do that. It was in place just to ensure no one put censor content in the user made maps.
But Legally Blizzard own DotA's IP.
You should stop making a fool of yourself, from other of your posts it is quite clear you don't play DotA.

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/5037/doublefacepalmt.jpg

Epic fail. This is where I stop talking to you.

 

[Exort]

The creator of dota left to make his own game
Why isn't Blizzard going after him?

He is not the creator of DotA, or even DotA Allstar...
DotA is made by Eul.
and DotA allstar is made by Guinsoo.
IceFrog is who Guinsoo left to update the map after he left.

EDIT:
SORRY.
I read it as "Why is Blizzard going after him?"

The reason is because Guinsoo trademark League of Legends, not DotA. LoL is a new name it belong to no one not even the community, so blizzard is ok with that, but DotA is a name created by Eul and now used by the community to present the Genre, so it belong to the community

 

[hclarke15]

There are so many creators of DoTa. They're like collectibles.
Valves got one
HoN's got one
LoL's got one
No idea if blizzard has one
BTW LoL and HoN are very similar to DoTa but they are standalone games. Heroes of Newerth is $30, and League of Legends is free to play but makes money selling skins and heroes. Sort of complicated but it means you can play characters without paying and if you want to pay you can get a more consistent variety.

 

[Exort]

Epic fail. This is where I stop talking to you.

I just love the nerd rage people have when they lose. Lol

 

[Saucycarpdog]

well it sounds less that they think it should remain free and more like Blizzard want it.
They keep talking about it being available to the "blizzard community" etc.
Valve have Icefrog and it was his idea to get the trademark and make dota 2.
And icefrog is the authority when it comes to Dota, since he did most of the work. Blizz has no say in this since none of their employees were even part of the development process.

Somehow I can't see myself believing Blizzards mentioning this out of love for the community. Feels like an attempt at a "be the good guy" stunt to me.

... though I was a little curious about Valve and the whole trademarking DotA, all things considered (community focused project, etc...)

They seem to be doing the same thing they did with counter strike and Tf and portal.
They hire the modteam and trademark it.
Counter strike was a mod once too. And now valve owns the devs and trademark.

If IceFrog is the main dude behind DotA and is now working with Valve, then who are "some of DotA's original creators" that are challenging it?

Guinsoo and Eul, the two guys who were working with DotA before IceFrog.

Just because they are the orginal creators sadly does not mean they have the rights. They gave developement over to Icefrog and now he has the say of what happens to it.