Trademarking: DOTA

Are there any gamers out there?

For those of you that have experienced the joy of computer games, you can probably skip the description of what I'm about to describe to you about Defense of the Ancients (DOTA).

For fans or people who know RTS (Real-time Strategy), a big name that comes in mind is Warcraft 3. Now, Warcraft 3 is a RTS that bases itself on it's predecessors Warcraft 1 and 2. As the game developed, graphic designs became better, and newer features became were released for the public audience to enjoy. On of those features was the “World Editor.” The “World Editor” is a program that allows the audience to create/edit maps. With this came the concept of “modding,” which is slang for modifying. People were free to create maps that would have different set of rules to win the game. This was a new way of entertainment for people who've bought these RTS games. To find out more about World Editor, you can see this link http://classic.battle.net/war3/faq/worldeditor.shtml or go to blizzard's web page.

It is from Warcraft 3's World Editor where the mod known as DOTA was made. This mod offered a different play style than the general norm. Instead of controlling a lot of units and building armies to destroy your opponent's base, you would, in fact, focus on one unit, the hero, and base your strategies on what your abilities were and on what your allies and their abilities. In short, it became really popular. DOTA was so popular that other games were made based on it, such as Heroes of Newerth(Hon) and League of Legends(LoL) to name a few.

Although this mod was created by someone known as Eul (Steve "Guinsoo" Feak), IceFrog joined and took over the development of the mod. Guinsoo went to develop the game LoL which is based on DOTA, while IceFrog continued developing DOTA and was hired by Valve. Valve's acquisition ultimately led to the development of DOTA's legacy: DOTA 2. The new game will involve the exact same heroes, and newer ones later on, and similar mechanics to DOTA.

Now today, the main issue is the matter of trademark. While the developers of DOTA 2 filed the trademark for the game DOTA, two other contenders filed the counter to this application: Guinsoo along with the director of Riot Games and, the creator of dota-allstars.com, the leading community of DOTA fans, Steve "Pendragon" Mescon. Guinsoo opposed against the idea of Valve acquiring this trademark, and expressed that he “DOTA is owned by the community” (Steve "Guinsoo" Feak). He did not think of trademarking DOTA because he's original intention was to make it free for the DOTA community to enjoy. More on their thoughts on http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/17/riot-games-dev-counter-files-dota-trademark/.

We can all see the good intentions of Guinsoo in sharing this game and keeping it free for others; however, the fact remains that he has not fully claimed his intellectual property, DOTA, completely therefore making it easier to steal. Today, Blizzard has acquired DOTA and is not opposing against the application of trademarking DOTA by Valve. More on this on http://kotaku.com/5883938/blizzard-is-suing-valve.

It is sad to see two of my favorite game developers' struggle to gain trademarking for one of my favorite games. But nevertheless, there are always sides to take when intellectual property is not protected.