While Blizzard’s Warcraft 3 was released, safe to say they did not expect a custom game built with Warcraft 3’s map editor to make it this big, and that game is none other than Defense of the Ancients, or more affectionately known as DOTA. In fact the game and its concept was so popular that it spawned several spinoffs, such as League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth, and has even prompted Valve to pick up development of the game in the form of DOTA 2.
However Blizzard is not too happy about Valve using the name DOTA and is now seeking the prevention of its use. They are claiming that “by attempting to register the mark DOTA, Valve seeks to appropriate the more than seven years of goodwill that Blizzard has developed”, and that the DOTA name is “a name that has come to signify the product of years of time and energy expended by Blizzard and by fans of Warcraft III”.
Considering that a good many DOTA 2 players will more than likely be fans and players of the original DOTA, wouldn’t Blizzard sort of be stepping on their toes by hampering the launch of DOTA 2? We’re not sure how Valve will respond, but for more information (if you can be bothered to comb through the legalese) check out Blizzard’s opposition filed with the USPTO.