Legal Niches

Blizzard's Rob Pardo Calls Valve DoTA Trademark 'Confusing'

By james_fudge

It was bound to happen sooner or later. It was inevitable that a mod for Warcraft III recently trademarked by Valve would put the two companies at loggerheads. Speaking at BlizzCon over the weekend Blizzard's Entertainment EVP Rob Pardo said that he was confused by Valve's trademark. His confusion relates to the Defense of the Ancients mod. During the annual all-things-Blizzard fan event the company unveiled a new StarCraft II multiplayer map inspired by the popular mod. This got journalists at the event talking and seeking opinion from Blizzard.

When asked about Blizzard's trademark, Pardo said the following:

"To us, that means that you're really taking it away from the Blizzard and Warcraft III community and that just doesn't seem the right thing to do," Pardo told Eurogamer.

Pardo added that there was "a little bit of confusion" on his part about Valve's trademark." Read More

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Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on October 25, 2010 (boomark / email).