You may be aware of the ongoing tedious legal business surrounding Mojang’s up and coming card based strategy game Scrolls. For the uninitiated among you Bethesda of The Elder Scrolls fame felt that Scrolls and The Elder Scrolls were too similar in name and moved to force Mojang to change the name of their next title. Mojang didn’t feel like backing down so now the lawyers are clashing and the case is going to court.
Since then Bethesda has declined to comment on the proceedings but Mojang have spoken out in criticism against the lawsuit.
Speaking to gamesradar, Mojang managering director Carl Manneh said “It would set a bad example for the industry,” and that it would “show how poorly the trademark legislation works.” Speaking about why the case had to go to court, Manneh added “We have tried to reach out to talk to Zenimax, but we are always blocked by layers of lawyers. We think that is a very unproductive and expensive way of communicating.”
I agree that Bethesda’s victory in this case would be more detrimental than helpful to the industry, and considering that I can’t say that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Scrolls have more than a fleeting resemblance to one another, I think I’ll personally be rooting for Mojang on this issue.
Source: gamesradar
