Ah, DOTA - a once popular mod for Warcraft III, but now apparently the source of a potentially long-drawn-out legal dispute. Well, of course, we all knew this was bound to happen sooner or later. The folks over at Kotaku have reported that development studios Valve Software and Blizzard Entertainment commenced a legal battle over the name DOTA (Defense of the Ancients).

Blizzard's reaction on the matter of DOTA 2 started when they outlined how the first Warcraft III (DOTA) and all things made in the game's World Editor are property of Blizzard as per its EULA. "At all times, the DotA Mods have been marketed, advertised, and promoted as Warcraft III scenarios that require purchase and installation of Warcraft III and knowledge of Warcraft III's gameplay mechanics, user interface, and on-screen display," offers Blizzard. "The fact that the DotA Mods are 'mods' of Warcraft III and that to be played the user must first purchase Warcraft III is well-known and well-publicized throughout the United States and the world."

They also said: "In contrast to Blizzard, Applicant Valve Corporation ("Valve") has never used the mark DOTA in connection with any product or service that currently is available to the public. By attempting to register the mark DOTA, Valve seeks to appropriate the more than seven years of goodwill that Blizzard has developed in the mark DOTA and in its Warcraft III computer game and take for itself a name that has come to signify the product of years of time and energy expended by Blizzard and by fans of Warcraft III. Valve has no right to the registration it seeks. If such registration is issued, it not only will damage Blizzard, but also the legions of Blizzard fans that have worked for years with Blizzard and its products, including by causing consumers to falsely believe that Valve's products are affiliated, sponsored or endorsed by Blizzard and are related or connected to Warcraft III."

Holy cow! Two of the greatest PC developers enter an epic legal battle. This should be interesting.

As for our stance on this, well, it's pretty much certain that Blizzard has every right to protest. Maybe Valve dived into someone else's strawberry patch without thinking much about the consequences...

Source.