Mojang vs Bethesda: Return of the Lawyer
Behold the crushing inevitability of the legal system.
SILENCE IN COURT
This whole Scrolls vs. Elder Scrolls business is getting pretty dumb. When two companies have a massive fallout and end up spending a fortune on lawyering up over the use of a single bloody word you know that something's pretty messed up with the world. Hell, even Pete Hines, the Bethesda Vice President, isn't entirely sure what's happening.
In a recent interview, Hines said that "This is a business matter based on how trademark law works and it will continue to be dealt with by lawyers who understand it, not by me or our developers."
The case, if you're unaware, is down to Mojang (the creators of Minecraft) wanting to trademark the name of their latest game Scrolls. The lawyers smelt blood and went for Mojang saying that they couldn't use the name as it would encroach on Bethesda's Elder Scrolls trademark. Notch, the founder of Mojang, offered to settle the matter over a friendly game of Quake 3... and then everything went to crap.
Trademark law is notoriously complicated and ridiculously tedious which is why Hines is leaving it to the legal teams. Notch has explicitly stated that he never meant to cause trouble (he's even said that "Picking a fight with my idols seemed like a silly idea") but now that the legal wheels are in action the behemoth can't be stopped. In fact, it seems that Bethesda has to take it to court to protect their trademark from any future issues.
Mojang may not have wanted to cause trouble but it seems that trouble is what they've got. Whatever happens this one is going to get expensive.
Source: Kotaku
In a recent interview, Hines said that "This is a business matter based on how trademark law works and it will continue to be dealt with by lawyers who understand it, not by me or our developers."
The case, if you're unaware, is down to Mojang (the creators of Minecraft) wanting to trademark the name of their latest game Scrolls. The lawyers smelt blood and went for Mojang saying that they couldn't use the name as it would encroach on Bethesda's Elder Scrolls trademark. Notch, the founder of Mojang, offered to settle the matter over a friendly game of Quake 3... and then everything went to crap.
Trademark law is notoriously complicated and ridiculously tedious which is why Hines is leaving it to the legal teams. Notch has explicitly stated that he never meant to cause trouble (he's even said that "Picking a fight with my idols seemed like a silly idea") but now that the legal wheels are in action the behemoth can't be stopped. In fact, it seems that Bethesda has to take it to court to protect their trademark from any future issues.
Mojang may not have wanted to cause trouble but it seems that trouble is what they've got. Whatever happens this one is going to get expensive.
Source: Kotaku
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