Blizzard Battles Valve for DOTA Name

Video game developer Blizzard, best known for the Warcraft and Diablo franchises, has launched a case against rival developer Valve, seeking to deny the use of the DOTA name for its upcoming MOBA titles.

The action was lodged at the Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, where Valve previously applied for a trademark.

The complaint from Blizzard states, “Blizzard seeks to prevent registration by its competitor Valve Corporation of a trademark, DOTA, that for more than seven years has been used exclusively by Blizzard and its fan community, under license from Blizzard.”

It adds, “By virtue of that use, the DOTA mark has become firmly associated in the mind of consumers with Blizzard, including to signify a highly popular scenario or variant of one of Blizzard’s best-selling computer games, Warcraft III. Over the past seven years, the mark DOTA has been used exclusively in connection with Blizzard and its products, namely Warcraft III.”

The legal team representing Blizzard concludes by saying that Valve has no rights to use the DOTA name.

The developer also says that the fans that have played the DOTA games based on the original Warcraft III will also be affected by the Valve trademark application.

DOTA is used to refer to Defense of the Ancients, the map in Warcraft III that was initially used for the precursors of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena genre.

At the moment League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth are the most successful titles in this gaming space and both Valve and Blizzard plan to launch their own takes on the genre.

The Valve title is set to be launched during 2012 and is now in closed beta stage, with the developers planning to deliver a better user interface and more learning opportunities.

Blizzard stated that its own take on MOBA would arrive after the launch of the Heart of the Swarm expansion for Starcraft II.

Links to source

seems like DOTA delays is because of Blizzard.

12 years ago*

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I dont know much, but Blizzard shall not own the name in my opinion. Its not a map they created.

12 years ago
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yup, it's a fans made map, but seeing DOTA popularity, it seems Blizzard wont let Valve have the name.

12 years ago
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*they'll try to not let Valve have the name. Valve has a pretty decent case against it once it makes it to court IMO, Blizzard makes it sound like it belongs to them already in their statement but I don't that's quite the case.

12 years ago
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yup, but it may take years, to battle it out in courts, and it will make DOTA 2 either canceled or delayed until the court makes a decision.

12 years ago
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Probably thats Blizzards goal :/ Acting like bitches.

12 years ago
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Upon Stracraft2 beta IceFrog pledged himself to make his DotA version for SC2 if he will be gived mod creatin kit. However, Activision Blizzard refused to give him anything and said something like "We got COD for online". No they are crying like a bitches. Greedy damn bitches.

12 years ago
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if that the case, then if icefrog saved the chat log or emails, then it can be used against blizzard in court.

and i also think blizzard sucks now, cause of the way they put DRM on Starcraft 2 and soon to be released Diablo 3.

12 years ago
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This is horribly inaccurate as someone who personally knows both sides.

12 years ago
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Yep; this never happened.

Cool story though.

12 years ago
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After you accept EULA for W3 and World creator you are using chars, icons, models, sounds, etc registered by Blizzard, hence they have a perfect line of defense.

12 years ago
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Blizzard never gave any support to Dota. Only after seeing all the success of DotA 2 that they started with this shit!

12 years ago
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But blizzard isn't trying to own it - they are just seeking to keep valve from owning it. IMHO neither company should own the DOTA label, and I think blizzard is actually doing the right thing by trying to keep it untrademarked by anyone (unless blizzard comes in later and tries to trademark it themselves).

12 years ago
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They can't trademark it yet. Their case outlines how they have more clain to the name than Valve. They need to block trademarking and then trademark it themselves. Which is deplorable

12 years ago
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i think it is something along the lines of, they gave him a license so technically it is theirs. but either way, what did they think the sequal to dota was going to be called lol

12 years ago
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I'm not really sure I'd call Dota 2 a sequel. It's more of a remake, in the sense that their goal is to change as little about the game as possible. They even go so far as to   ̶r̶i̶p̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶  be inspired by most of the Warcraft 3 character designs.

Blizzard isn't objecting to Valve calling their game "Dota 2" though. They're objecting to them trademarking the name "Dota".

12 years ago
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With each passing year I like Blizzard even less. At least they did StarCraft 2 right.

12 years ago
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i hate them, when i saw them going the UBISOFT route, Starcraft 2 is online only play, and Diablo 3 is gonna be the same.

12 years ago
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StarCraft 2 can be played offline. E: I mean you do need to activate initially online, but you don't have to stay online to play.

12 years ago
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Not offline indefinitely though, it needs reactivating every 30 days IIRC.

12 years ago
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And im guessing that was so people didn't just pirate it and LAN.

12 years ago
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man you realize you posted that comment everywhere? realax Honestly i dont even care if Starcraft, Warcaft and Diablo have 10 logins and 15 DRM's in a row still these 3 are among the best games ever created .

12 years ago
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because not everyone has a stable 24/7 internet, i for one, only has access to shitty ISP, just now i can't access internet for more than 3 hours, the longest i've been is a week without internet.

even if they are great games, needing internet connection for single player play, is unnecessary, just now ubisoft wanted to move their server host, and a lot of their games can't be played for unknown time.

12 years ago
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You don't need to be on the internet unless you're playing multiplayer...
You have to log in something like once every 30 days.

If you are a PC gamer and you don't have internet access at least once a month, I'm sorry but gaming may not be for you.

12 years ago
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WTF are you trying to say is with gaming may not be for me ?

like i said, did you think everyone has stable internet connection all over the world ?

i got disconnected randomly each day, so if i was in the middle of playing something that requires the always on connection, i would lose that progress.

and i did not know that starcraft 2 only has the login only once for 30 days thing, because i did not own it, and i did not own it, because from everything that i read, everyone said that starcraft 2 requires an active internet connection, and that usually translate to always on DRM.

12 years ago
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If your connection is really that bad, then you are probably out of luck - buy better. I also don't have a car, because I don't have money for it. It's that simple. But I have absolutely stable internet connection 6/6 Mbps without any limits for 15$ a month. It's almost cheaper than WoW. And you can play SC2 offline, only you will not get achievements.

EDIT: With your connection you could probably play SC2 online, you will not lose any progress with internet connection loss, you could lose only some achievements, because they are not registering if you are offline. That's all.

12 years ago
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A somewhat-stable internet connection at 4/0.5 Mbps with 25G limit costs me $100 a month. I'm sure I earn far less than you and probably pay more tax as well. When I get together with friends to play multiplayer there isn't any Internet at all, so SC2 is rather dead in the water. I can't buy better - this is as good as it gets. Now, I could get SC2 and would be able to play the single-player campaign and the occasional Internet skirmish but what Blizzard offer for the price they charge just isn't worth it for me.

People have different situations, so please stop being so condescending toward those who have legitimate complaints about things that don't happen to affect you. You are perfectly capable of ignoring those who complain about Blizzard's restrictions - those who are affected cannot ignore how those restrictions affect them and nothing will improve for them if they don't complain.

12 years ago
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100$ a month for such connection? And I thougt here in the Czech Republic everything is overpriced. But you are right that I am lucky I have very good ISP right now. I see where are you going, but I still think better internet connection is almost standard these days. I bought SC2 only for single-player, because I am not playing multiplayer at all mostly. But I admit it is much more fun when you are able to fulfil achievements and you need good internet connection for that. I am sorry you cannot have better connection for such hard money, but even if you could play campaign offline with achievements, you still need good connection for multiplayer, which is the main part of SC2 for the majority of players. So I think it is a must however you are looking at it and Blizzard cannot really do very much about it. They can add LAN for local MP matches and I am all for it, but that is another story.

12 years ago
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are you sure they were talking about the DRM when they said you need an internet connection? MOST people who play StarCraft play StarCraft to play multiplayer, so that's probably what they meant, unless they are ill informed.

12 years ago
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nope, you need internet to play Starcraft II at all. Yeah, it has offline mode, but that's a hit-or-miss thing there. Sometimes it works, but most of the time not

12 years ago
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"If you are a PC gamer and you don't have internet access at least once a month, I'm sorry but gaming may not be for you."

That reasoning is as retarded as Valve wanting to trademark DoTA and Blizzard wanting to sue Valve for it.

12 years ago
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I don't know why it bothers some people so much. I am playing every game online a don't have problem with it. I don't see any difference between playing online and offline. And Blizzard is one of the best developers out there, because quality is always before quantity in their products.

12 years ago
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That is why Starcraft 2 is split in 3 parts.

12 years ago
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Starcraft 1 was split in 2 parts, Warcraft 3 was split in 2 parts, Diablo 1 and 2 was split in 2 parts, WoW is split in I don't know how many parts. And Starcraft 2 is split in 3 parts and all of a sudden it is a problem. I am happy, because there will more quality content in three parts then it would be in two.

12 years ago
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Eh, you may say they are quality, that's your opinion. I really only thing StarCraft 2 is the only game they've done a good job on recently. WoW has been going to the dogs since late TBC/mid WOTLK (depends on how you look at it). I'm going to get D3 and am even a bit excited for it (mostly for the social aspect, since I quit WoW haven't had a chance to game with a lot of my efriends), I played the beta and found it okay, but wasn't like OMG MUST PLAY. Didn't seem like it offered anything super exciting so far, and the story wasn't the most capturing. For that matter even SCII story was kind of average (though the campaign was fun, just not for the story though--f u metzen).

12 years ago
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I agree with you on the story of SC2, it could've definitely been better, but all in all SC2 was still a pretty good game and I enjoyed it almost as much as Starcraft 1, Diablo 1 and 2 and all Warcrafts. I am absolutely not interested in MMO's though, so I cannot say what is wrong in there, but even WoW expansions still have very good reviews or at least so I read.

12 years ago
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Didnt Valve try suing Blizzard earlier for their Left 2 Die thing for Starcraft 2?

12 years ago
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Nha Valve really didn't care.

12 years ago
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DotA stand for Defense of the Acient while DOTA stand for nothing.. this alone mean that even if blizzard have the right ( and it doesn't ) to sue Valve they can't do nothing because DotA and DOTA are two different things.
Actualy Valve can sue Blizzard about " Blizzard DOTA " but they don't care.
And this fail attempt from Blizzard is from November with 0 progress, they are clearly using this for ads on Blizzard DOTA because they already know they can't win this.
Oh and Blizzard is so mad about the lost opportunity ( why they didn't hire IceFrog in all this years? ) that is making is own on SCII and on Diablo3 too ( yes is going to be one of the pvp mode )

12 years ago
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DotA-Allstars, LLC bought the names for DotA, DOTA, Dota and Defense of the Ancient as far as I remember, then the rights were bought with company by RIOT Games and then transferred to Blizzard.

Valve actually can't sue Blizzard for "Blizzard DOTA". Every "Blizzard" in title in association with video games are registered by Blizzard Ent.

12 years ago
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-No they couldn't trademark DOTA DOTA2 DOTA3 because Valve already did that.
-Sure so Valve can make a game called " Valve Starcraft "

12 years ago
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  • Actually Valve just registered for trademark, they don't have it yet.
  • No they can't, trademarks for Starcraft in relation to video games are with Blizzard.
12 years ago
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Wait what? Every? So let's say I make game called 'Bloody Blizzard of Dead Kitties' and that will be enough for them to sue me? Or am I exaggerating?

12 years ago
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They have problems... let's name it AtoD and save the money they would spend for their lawyers.

By the way, I think the rights for DotA are hold by the creators of the mod and they work for Valve now. So bad luck, Blizzard.

12 years ago
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Not creators but one of the many developers. Rights for name "DotA" have the company DotA-Allstars, LLC which was then bought by RIOT Games and then the rights were transferred to Blizzard Entertainment.

Please get your facts straight.

12 years ago
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You are such a blizzard "fan-boy" that makes me sick. Do you even play anything that they made? For example WoW? And do you agree to what they just stated (Activision pushes action RPG to April-June quarter; company not expecting to ship both Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm and WOW: Mists of Pandaria this year.)? Besides Blizzard said "f off" to IceFrog when he wanted to "upgrade" DotA so now they can "F off" from Valve because DotA 2 is awesome!

12 years ago
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First of all, sorry i didn't want to tell facts, but my opinion.
I made a recherche and found that your facts are true, but Valve appealed against this, so a court has to decide. And I found, that Valve made their request two days before Blizzard. But whatever the court decides, I hope that there will be a Dota/wtf 2 soon.

12 years ago
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I don't think anyone here understands the difference between copyright and trademark. With Intellectual property you have to sue to protect the trademark because in the future if Valve decides to sue or file a tort, Blizzard will have no defense because they didn't sue first. That is stupidly how it works.

If I make a t-shirt with a smiley face and someone makes the same shirt 1000 miles away and I realize that they copied me whether intentionally malicious or not, I have to file a claim. If I decide not to file a claim and a year later they counter-claim me, I can't just provide proof that I made it first in some cases. I have to prove that I've been actively protecting the trademark otherwise I Lose that trademark and/or copyright.

12 years ago
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Hmm... As much as i love Valve, I'm with Blizzard on this one.

12 years ago
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you do realize that blizzard is going the ubisoft way ? (online only play)

and if DOTA goes to blizzard, it meant no DOTA on steam, just like Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2.

12 years ago
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Wut? How can a game go to the other company over a name?

12 years ago
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guy obviously doesn't understand law.

12 years ago
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Who the fuck cares? Blizz is not ubisoft.

It doesn't mean no Dota on steam, it means Dota under different name, please pay attention.

12 years ago
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Blizzard won't stop there, they can try the same with heroes and objects

12 years ago
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So you agree and accept that Blizzard is screwing over WoW and Diablo players?

12 years ago
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How the fuck does that have even REMOTELY anything to do with DOTA being something originally from their own game?

12 years ago
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They are not suing.

12 years ago
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This is like Valve would prohibit the use of the word "steam" because their store is called steam... uhh blizzard, go kill that leech called activision and be true to the gamers.

12 years ago
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No but they would sue anyone for using word "steam" in company name associated with game services, that's why blizzard is suing em, same deal.

Both of them want to release DOTA games and Valve has no rights for the name so why would blizz let them use it unpunished?

12 years ago
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Yeah okay Blizzard isn't the one who created them map but Valve why chose that name? for more money....

12 years ago
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I like Blizzard, and I like Valve. But I have the feeling Blizzard is in the right on this one. It's their name, used for a game of the exact same genre, and (having never played Dota or Dota2) I assume similar characters, and Valve is apparently using it without permission. Sucks for the fans, but there it is.

12 years ago
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You shouldn't talk about something you don't know.

12 years ago
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Since you're apparently new to the internet, let me be the first to welcome you

12 years ago
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Blizzard didn't make DotA though, nor did they name it.

12 years ago
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yea, I get that now, from reading the later comments. Like I said, I haven't played either of them, and was just kinda working off of what I thought people were saying already. My bad.

12 years ago
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Saying they own DOTA because their fans made it is like an artist getting fucked over by a paper company because "they drew their work on OUR paper!"

12 years ago
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+1

12 years ago
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+2

12 years ago
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+9000!!!!

12 years ago
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it's Over 9000!! XD

12 years ago
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They are definitely not suing Valve. There is a difference between filing court documents challenging Valve's use of the name DOTA and suing somebody.

12 years ago
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I understand why Blizzard is complaining. But one has to ask why they didn't do that when Valve came up with DOTA2. Instead, they waited until the final stage of the development. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark...

12 years ago
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Well, IceFrog posted on his blog that he was hired by Valve in llike a year before DOTA2 was revealed to public. If Blizzard really wanted something to do, they'd did it few yars ago.

12 years ago
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A deal was already on the table years before with Blizzard. Certain people declined it not because of money but because of development and managerial disagreements. This is one suggested reason why the original Dota developers split up and some went to blizzard, some went to valve, others went to Riot(league of legends) and S2 (Heroes of Newerth) because deals kept being declined.

12 years ago
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Because there was no need for them to do something so drastic until now. People were using Warcraft III to make DotA maps for years and Blizzard profited from the popularity. If Blizzard had thrown its weight and made a huge-budget DotA map then the modders would start to feel like they'll get shoved aside if they make anything that becomes remotely popular - not a good way to cultivate a relationship with mod community. But now that their mod community is under threat from brand-poaching it's in everyone's interests that they assert themselves.

I dislike the way Blizzard has been doing things lately, I enjoy Icefrog's maps for DotA 6, and I am looking forward to Valve's DOTA 2 - but I have to side with Blizzard on this particular matter.

12 years ago
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Right, so blizzard wants to sue Valve for using the name of a MOD created eons ago, which right now was developed by Valve, WITH the company of the original mod creator, Icefrog.

DOTA itself never had a copyright, being something completely free (the mod that is), and if it did, it should belong to Icefrog (which if you failed to read is actually working on DOTA2).

group facepalm

12 years ago
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I might be wrong, I've never read Blizzard's EULA, but I'd expect it to contain something like "everything you make with World Creator (or whatever the tools are called) belongs to us."

12 years ago
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I would expect that too. Haven't read Blizzard's, but other developers have said something along those lines in regards to mods.

12 years ago
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It makes sense, i assume they do that with most Dev kits, which is why you have to get a liscense from the company if you try to use it (in some way, shape, or form) to make money. That's what EPIC does with UNreal

12 years ago
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This has a lot more to do with Blizzard not wanting DOTA trademarked by another company so they can still make/use/call it Blizzard DOTA.

Less to do with Blizzard going after DOTA2 and wanting to stop it. (The way I read the claims.)

12 years ago
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More and more I'm beginning to dislike Blizzard.

12 years ago
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I blame the activision merge.

12 years ago
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I'm with Blizzard on this but am coming to dislike them for other reasons. It's such a pity.

12 years ago
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It's pretty funny how none of you actually made an effort to actually find out what happened. Blizzard isn't suing and claiming they own the DOTA trademark, they're preventing Valve from saying that they own it. Blizzard wants to use the DOTA brand themselves later and the last thing they want is for Valve to copyright a community-made mod for a Blizzard game.

Seems completely reasonable to me, but of course Steam Gifts is overwhelmingly pro-Valve to the point no one will even bother to find the truth.

12 years ago
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+>9000

12 years ago
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The one who can copyright dota its "ice frog"

he had the idea (with others)

12 years ago
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But Blizzard have equally no claim to the DOTA name. Team Fortress was a Quake mod, and Valve used the name to make TF2, because it was the name of a mod, only the mod creators held the naming rights. Blizzard are just arguing that because the mod used their property in the first place they are entitled to its name. Icefrog works for Valve, I'm pretty sure he can call it DOTA2 if he wants. Petty if you ask me

12 years ago
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hmunkey is 100% right.Icefrog did not make dota alone, also the name dota reffers to warcraft 3.

12 years ago
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Seems like Blizzard wants a piece of every cake.

12 years ago
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12 years ago
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yep

12 years ago
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12 years ago
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That's the way how Blizzard trolls.

12 years ago
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12 years ago
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Icefrog the creator of DOTA mod is the lead designer for this game. I think he can call it DOTA2 if he wants. Also, obvious way to get publicity to name it after the Mod that inspired it.

12 years ago
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Icefrog didn't make it, Eul did, but you are still right because Eul AND Icefrog work at valve now.

12 years ago
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eul is in valve?
i always think eul and pendragon split into LoL and HoN for $. And them icefrog get dota and make it shine and balance. i have to read information :S

12 years ago
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This is the first really stupid move I have seen Valve make, there is no way they will win.

Blizzard isn't trying to take anything away from gamers or Valve, it is the opposite. Blizzard wants to keep the DotA name available as a genre and doesn't want Valve owning it. Anyone who loves DotA games should be backing Blizzard on this decision.

Valve trademarking DotA would be the same thing as EA trademarking RPG. Nobody but the company who owns it wins in those situations.

12 years ago
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Err no, Blizzard is trying to steal it so that they can own it.

12 years ago
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If Blizzard wanted it they would have trademarked it long ago. Blizzard only stepped in when Valve decided they wanted to own it.

12 years ago
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Because Blizzard probably woke up and realized they never trademarked it in the first place. You have to realize, this is ACTIVISION Blizzard now, not just plain old Blizzard. Bobby Kotick wants all the fucking money he can hold.

12 years ago
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I totally agree about Bobby Kotick, I hate that Alfred E. Newman looking motherfucker but nonetheless he is a great businessman (not great for gamers but great for $$$). I just don't want to see Valve owning the name that has come to define a genre.

12 years ago
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Blizzard never thought it was marketable back then, and only now do they realise that its generating a lot of buzz that they want part of.

Blizzards case is petty. The mechanics? Mod designed, The character models? Completely new? Valve's models are significantly different, enough to not be classified as copies of WCIII characters which is what the DOTA1 models pretty much were.

Heck LoL uses DOTA to explain what their game is, I don't see blizzard up in arms about LoL. They just realised they can half ass a case over the name. I said this in another post but lets look back at Team Fortress. The mod was originally made for Quake and then later Valve offered the mod makers jobs. Now many games have taken the mechanics to some extent (Brink being one of the most recent). Yet the name was never associated as something that belonged to id. Hell most people at this point probably don't even know that it was on Quake.

12 years ago
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"LoL uses DOTA to explain what their game is, I don't see blizzard up in arms about LoL."

Exactly, Blizzard wasn't up in arms about LoL because they were using it to define the genre and not trying to trademark it. Blizzard had no problem with Valve until either Valve decided they wanted to own the name DotA.

12 years ago
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lol, no.

If Blizzard wins, DOTA 2 won't ever see an official release.

12 years ago
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I doubt that would happen, they have too much capitol invested into the game to abandon it.

12 years ago
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12 years ago
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it wouldn't be that simple though...

it already has too big of a fan base. changing the name of it would ruin the integrity of that. Still, it might happen if Blizzard wins (I doubt it though, Blizzard's being too much of a scumbag to get anywhere with this), but it wouldn't look good...

12 years ago
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"Blizzard wants to keep the DotA name available as a genre"

Are you serious?
Dota was never theirs to begin with! merely used their engine! without Dota there wouldnt have been the other Dota games out there. Take a look at LoL and their fantastic player base of 10 million + and HoN, then you have other MOba games out there. Dota isn't a genre, your just blind to see Dota has helped evolve the MOBA genre. While Dota the base game is still very much alive(at least in The frozen Throne version).

Answer me this question then, Why has Blizzard taken action as of now to sue Valve when they could've done it in the bloody past!

Funny how you also said "Anyone who loves DotA games should be backing Blizzard on this decision."
LMFAO, I love Dota games since 6.57d, and i can tell I know what true dota is. And that all started with Eul then Guinsoo now Icefrog. Personally i was a blizzard fan(now a Valve fan as well :P) and still am today, but this situation is utter rubbish, since Valve has CLEAR RIGHTS TO DOTA. It got back in 2010. Play Blizzard Dota, since they already want to change so much stuff inside of it completely different of Dota.

Also, if you truly love DotA then watch the comparison videos comparing DotA and Dota 2 and you'll see exactly how it mirrors everything that made the DOta so great and awesome.

(my 2 cents...)

12 years ago
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"Answer me this question then, Why has Blizzard taken action as of now to sue Valve when they could've done it in the bloody past!"

Simple, Blizzard doesn't want Valve to own the name of the genre.

12 years ago
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Blizzard are claiming they already own the DOTA name. Copied from their file lodged with

DotA first was developed in 2003 using Blizzard's World Editor. Over the years, under license from Blizzard, numerous versions or iterations of DotA have been distributed to the public, including the popular version "DotA AllStars" (collectively, the "DotA Mods").

Blizzard now possesses all rights that DotA-Allstars LLC may have had in connection with the "DotA Mods" and the DotA-Allstars website, including any trademarks or other goodwill DotA-Allstars LLC may have had in the DOTA Marks.

12 years ago
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They are not suing valve they are just appealing valves request to copyright "DOTA 2", which is perfectley reasonable. Get your facts straight next time.

12 years ago
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Valve has the earlier trademark application. Check Here

12 years ago
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The only reason Blizzard is suing is not so they can "keep the genre open for others to develop there", but so they can create their own Dota clones and profit off it as well.

Due to the fact trademarks work, Blizzard is afraid that Valve might sue Blizzard if they make a Dota game (which will most likely happen if the reverse case is true), but I highly doubt Valve will sue over the use of the mechanics in the genre.

It'll be very interesting to see the outcome of this case, as the Icefrog developer guys (who made Dota, I believe) are also the ones working on Dota 2.

12 years ago
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Closed 12 years ago by DM789.