Many of you will have been keeping up to date with the court case between Mojang and Bethesda over the use of the word Scrolls. Bethesda feel that Mojang’s upcoming game Scrolls infringes on their long standing trademark ‘The Elder Scrolls’ and have taken Mojang to court in Sweeden, where Mojang is based, to force them to change the name.
Mojang founder, Marcus ‘Notch’ Pearson, has been incredibly vocal about the proceedings, taking to his Twitter account to reccount his dealings with Bethesda’s lawyers, colouring the proceedings as a corporate behemoth picking on the little, indie developer, while Bethesda responded that they’re simply protecting their precious franchise from possible harm.
Well, the first victory in the battle has been decided, and it goes to Mojang. The interim injunction would have allowed Bethesda to effecitvely block Mojang from using Scrolls as a title untill the court case could be concluded. For now at least, Mojang are still free to call their next game Scrolls as intended. You can see a screengrab of the interim proceedings here that Mojang posted from their Twitter. It is, however, in Sweedish. A summary was later posted.
Bethesda can of course choose to appeal the decision and carry on the legal fight. Mojang may have won this battle of lawyers and legality, but they have not necessarily won the war.
