Zenimax Media - 'Scrolls' Trademark Settled

Dhruin

Dhruin

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Catching up on a few items, here's a press release Zenimax sent through announcing their trademark dispute with Mojang has been settled:
ZENIMAX® MEDIA AND MOJANG
SETTLE ‘SCROLLS’ TRADEMARK LAWSUIT​
Mojang Transfers “SCROLLS” Trademark to ZeniMax​
ZeniMax to Allow Mojang Use of “SCROLLS” Mark on Digital Card Game​
March 12, 2012 (Rockville, MD) – ZeniMax® Media Inc. today announced that a settlement has been reached in the lawsuit it filed over Mojang’s applications for ownership of the ‘Scrolls’ trademark. The lawsuit was filed by ZeniMax when Mojang submitted applications covering a range of ‘Scrolls’ trademarks for use in video games and other media. In its complaint, ZeniMax cited a conflict with its longstanding trademark for ‘The Elder Scrolls’, the name of its highly-successful video game franchise published by ZeniMax Media’s publishing arm, Bethesda® Softworks.

Under the terms of the settlement, all ownership rights to the ‘Scrolls’ trademark will transfer to ZeniMax, and Mojang will assign to ZeniMax ownership of any pending “Scrolls’ trademark applications. ZeniMax has licensed the ‘Scrolls’ mark to Mojang to be used solely in conjunction with its existing Scrolls digital card game and any add-on material it makes to that game. The terms of the settlement bar Mojang from using the Scrolls mark for any sequel to the current card game, or any other video game.

"We are pleased to have settled this matter with Mojang amicably,” said Robert Altman, Chairman and CEO of ZeniMax. “The Elder Scrolls is an important brand to us, and with this settlement we were able to protect our valuable property rights while allowing Mojang to release their digital card game under the name they preferred.”
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More information.
 
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This kind of shit makes me so mad I could spit. Whole thing is ridiculous.
 
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I can't speak to international copyright and trademark laws, but in the US, you pretty much have to aggressively defend your copyrights and trademarks to avoid losing exclusive control over them. This is one of those "hate the rules of the game, not the player" moments.
 
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Well if Mojang agreed to the settlement then I guess everyone walks away happy. Zenimax keeps their 'scrolls' and mojang probably got some cash.
 
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The problem is because Mojang was trying to get a trademark on the name. If Bethesda didn't do anything then Mojang would be within their legal rights to force Bethesda to drop Scrolls from the name of their games and/or force them to pay for the use of the word. If Mojang would have just either used the name without a trademark or made a deal with Bethesda then there would have never been a problem in the first place.
 
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This shit is ridiculous. You can't copyright a fucking word. Next time they settle with thesaurus makers?
 
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TheMadGamer said:
Well if Mojang agreed to the settlement then I guess everyone walks away happy. Zenimax keeps their 'scrolls' and mojang probably got some cash.
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I guess Mojang lost a lot of money over this (Zenimax too, but they have enough). The real threat in these lawsuits are the legal fees. As a big company, you can crush a small competitor just by suing them, even if you don't have a chance to win.
 
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I am sorry but you've all used words I've trademark, time to cough up some cash!
 
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Drithius said:
Probably the other way around, if anything.
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The way I see it, if Mojang wanted 'scrolls' but zenimax didn't want them to have 'scrolls' then zenimax probably paid mojan some cash. I could be wrong though.
 
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Turjan said:
I guess Mojang lost a lot of money over this (Zenimax too, but they have enough). The real threat in these lawsuits are the legal fees. As a big company, you can crush a small competitor just by suing them, even if you don't have a chance to win.
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Lol yes you're right. I forgot about attorney's fees. GOD never forget about attorney's fees...
 
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Compared to other similar trademark disputes (usually involving Apple), this is actually a quick and rather fair resolution for both parties.
 
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BillSeurer said:
Actually, this seems like a very reasonable settlement.
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I guess the point is that everyday words are more and more used as trademarks.

Face Book began to sue organizations hich had the word "book" in their name. Not "face", only "book".

Be glad that people don't have the Abmahnindustrie we have here in Germany !

jhwisner said:
Compared to other similar trademark disputes (usually involving Apple), this is actually a quick and rather fair resolution for both parties.
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There was even a quarrel between them and the original music label the Beatles published on.

Turjan said:
I guess Mojang lost a lot of money over this (Zenimax too, but they have enough). The real threat in these lawsuits are the legal fees. As a big company, you can crush a small competitor just by suing them, even if you don't have a chance to win.
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That's how the so-called "free market" works. That's how any liberal market works. The big ones use their power to cripple or destroy the small ones. No competition, please !

"Free market" is an illusion. One that is kept upright only by those who profit from it.
 
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Many numbers are trademarked too (seriously).

A "trademark" is a "mark" (symbol, word, phrase, whatever) under which you do "trade" and identifies you. As company names and products are mostly made up of (gasp!) words and numbers therefore words and numbers get used as trademarks.

This has been true for ages, probably longer than any of our lifetimes. heck, there are examples that date back over 6000 years! I am not sure why people get all upset about it all of a sudden.
 
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