I don't believe Notch's post for a second. Why? Well, first of all, according to Notch, Mojang made the offer to drop the trademark when Bethesda contacted them. Except Bethesda contacted them over 6 months ago, confirmed in one of Notch's own blog posts. In fact, in Notch's initial blog post regarding the trademark dispute, the only offer he mentioned was:
We suggested a compromise where we'd agree to never put any words in front of "Scrolls", and instead call sequels and other things something along the lines of "Scrolls - The Banana Expansion".
Source: http://notch.tumblr.com/post/8519901309/bethesda-are-suing-us-heres-the-full-story
If Mojang had, in fact, offered to drop the trademark, why did he make no mention of it in that initial blog post? And why did he wait until now to mention it?
Furthermore, it's more than a little bit suspicious that this claim from Notch would come immediately after an article on Kotaku revealed the extent of his trademark, provided a lot of factual evidence of why ZeniMax would be seeking this lawsuit, and basically ripped the "But Mojang's just a victim!" argument to shreds. Indeed, this new claim by Notch started as a response to Russ Pitt's article on Kotaku. The timing of this, particularly given the established timeframe of the Bethesda and Mojang trademark dispute, suggests that it's more a publicity stunt in order to regain some sympathy in the public arena after a damaging article than actual truth.
Source: http://kotaku.com/5846111/mojang-v-bethesda-or-i-hate-it-when-mommy-and-daddy-fight
It's also quite telling that Notch, while he has been more than happy to post all of the legal documents he receives from ZeniMax on Twitter, has yet to actually provide any legal documents from his side of the case. There is, of course, a reason for this, because for the most part, it's just good legal sense not to publicly reveal legal documents. However, if Mojang made a legitimate offer to ZeniMax agreeing to drop the trademark, then there would be legal documentation of it. And since the offer was supposedly rejected, there wouldn't be much harm in posting this legal document as evidence of Notch's claim. Without legal documentation though, Notch's claim means literally nothing (a typical case of "he says, she says" which, in a court of law, holds little merit).
And finally, to put to rest once and for all Mojang's supposed "innocence" in this mess, here's the Mojang trademark on the word "Scrolls" in full:
IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer games; video games; computer software; computer and video games software; computer software downloaded or downloadable; computer software publications downloaded; interactive entertainment software; data recorded electronically from the Internet; data recorded in machine readable form from the Internet; discs, tapes, cartridges, CD-ROMs and other magnetic, electronic or optical media, all bearing computer games software or video games; electronic amusement apparatus for use with television receivers; electronic games apparatus; home video game machines
IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: Articles of clothing; footwear and headgear; t-shirts; shirts; trousers; sweatshirts; jackets; knitwear; hats; caps; neckwear; shoes; socks; garments for women; garments for men; garments for children; apparel parts and fittings for all the aforesaid
IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: Games, toys and playthings; electronic games apparatus; audio visual games on computer hardware platforms (not for use with television receivers), handheld computer games equipment, hand-held video game machines; parts and fittings for all the aforesaid goods; board games; electronic games machines; equipment sold as a unit for playing card games; electronic hand-held game unit; game equipment sold as a unit for playing aboard game, a card game; stand alone video output games machines, and manipulative puzzles; playing cards; board games; card games; three-dimensional puzzle; parts and fittings for all the aforesaid goods
IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services in the form of electronic, computer and video games provided by means of the Internet and other remote communications device; internet games (non downloadable); organising of games; games (not downloadable) played via a global computer network; education and entertainment services in the form of cinematographic, televisual, digital and motion picture films, radio and television programs and shows; preparation, editing and production of cinematographic, televisual, digital and motion picture films, radio and television programs; entertainment services in the form of electronic, computer and video games provided by means of the Internet, mobile telephone and other remote communications device
Source: http://tess2.uspto.gov/
I'm not sure how you're supposed to defend this kind of trademark, it's excessively broad and ill-defined. It includes everything from board games, to all kinds of clothing, to tv shows, to radio shows, to actual handheld devices, to puzzles. It's quite simply a ridiculous trademark, one that does, in fact, conflict with other trademarks besides ZeniMax's. And, speaking of ZeniMax's trademarks, go look those up (use the link I provided and do a search for Scrolls), you'll find they're all to the point and cover *actual* products and services that ZeniMax provides. Compared to Mojang's trademark, which includes a number of products and services that would never be used by an indie card-battle game, ZeniMax's trademarks are quite moderate and constantly in use.
Really, the Mojang defense crusade needs to end, they're not "perfect saints" and they're certainly not the victims in this dispute. And for those wondering, no, I'm not a Mojang hater, I love Minecraft as much as the next guy (and I spend way too much time playing it). But I do hate this perpetuation of ignorance that seems to constantly be coming from the Mojang camp, and it's high time some actual facts were considered.
