It takes both time to update a webpage, as well as time for lawyers to figure out what to do next in terms of legal advise as a result of a lawsuit like this. Unless there is a formal court order where Notch could land in prison if the website doesn't get updated (for which there isn't such a court or judicial order regarding anything like that) there is no need to hurry and do a knee jerk reaction. Just because Mojang claims it is a trademark doesn't necessarily make it so. That isn't how trademark law works.
Give it a little bit of time. Eventually the impact of this ruling is going to be reflected in whatever Mojang does, but that impact hasn't happened yet. If Bethesda had won and with that win had been able to get a restraining order against Mojang, you had better believe that would have been changed immediately.
o_O eh? the lawsuit was beyond stupid, beth doesn't own the word to begin with. besisdes if they care about elder scrolls this much why was skyrim released in the crappy state it was in, for the ps3 only a few played it on the ps3 without problems, i was one of the many that didn't, and they knew and didn't give two shits what we as buyers would have to deal with. when a game costs 60$ i expect it to be somewhat decent in quality. and from a big company like beth i expected better then that.
bottom line they don't give a crap about the game or the gamers, they just are greedy. and if mohjang wants to use the word they have every right to do so. no one owns a single word, even a person's name is not theirs by ownership. if they were going to copy most or a good bit of the game i can see where this would have been remotely needed, but i didn't then and still don't now.
The thing is, Bethesda never said they owned the word. However, Mojang applied for a trademark over it, essentially saying that Mojang should exclusively have the right to use "scrolls" in reference to game titles (and potentially titles of other works as well).
Bethesda never tried trademarking "scrolls", so they didn't own it and they didn't try to stop anyone else from making a game with "scrolls" generically used in the title. However, if Mojang acquired trademark over "scrolls", it would conflict with Bethesda's right to call their series "The Elder Scrolls", especially since both Bethesda and Mojang are in the gaming industry.
Whilst the actual developers at Mojang and Bethesda are amicable with each other, no sane company lawyer is gonna leave a loose end like that. To protect Bethesda's right to maintain trademark over "The Elder Scrolls", and prevent Mojang from ever having the ability to sue them over it, they had to stop Mojang from trademarking "scrolls" in the first place.
Imagine if Jasc applied for a trademark of "shop" in reference to their "Paintshop" software. This would be a direct threat to Adobe, which is already under threat of losing their trademark over "Photoshop" (thanks to modern usage referring to any edited image), specifically because both Paintshop and Photoshop are digital image editing software. Neither company owns trademark over "shop" in reference to image editing, but if either applied for such a trademark they would be threatening the other (whether intentionally or not).
I don't see this as either side being greedy; it's just a consequence of how laws over trademark work. I don't think either side was "bad" here, and I don't think either side won or lost. Let it be noted that Notch said he didn't originally want to try trademarking "scrolls", and that the lawsuit itself was done directly in response to the trademark application. Bethesda would not have sued to stop Mojang from naming their game "Scrolls"; if they didn't want anyone to make a game called "Scrolls" they would have trademarked the word themselves.
1. Ooooh Split-screen looks cool!
2. Well, if it weren't for the fact I'm kinda tied up on my own server the Savage REalms thing looks really cool...
3. Hooray for Mojang being able to use Scrolls as their title! Sounds like a fun game, might just have to try that Alpha... Keep up the good work, Mojang!
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Define Cute (choose 1): A) Creepers Aerbunnies C) Herobrine. If you chose A): You appeal to destruction and to stereotypes. If you chose B): You are a perfectly normal person, and enjoy the Aether Mod. If you chose C): Please leave the planet now before you set off a nuclear warhead--no one enjoys mass murders, however nice they might seem to you.
The thing is, Bethesda never said they owned the word. However, Mojang applied for a trademark over it, essentially saying that Mojang should exclusively have the right to use "scrolls" in reference to game titles (and potentially titles of other works as well).
Bethesda never tried trademarking "scrolls", so they didn't own it and they didn't try to stop anyone else from making a game with "scrolls" generically used in the title. However, if Mojang acquired trademark over "scrolls", it would conflict with Bethesda's right to call their series "The Elder Scrolls", especially since both Bethesda and Mojang are in the gaming industry.
This isn't quite right either. Bethesda and Mojang could have worked out a joint licensing agreement between the two companies and still protected the respective trademarks. I am not privy to the negotiations that happened between Mojang and Bethesda, but the point that should be raised is that these negotiations between these two companies broke down in a real hurry and led to a judge acting as a referee to decide how it should end up. If you can settle out of court, it makes life a whole lot easier... but somebody got greedy and I don't know if it was Mojang or Bethesda.
Obviously around here it would be Mojang's side that would be usually supported. On the whole Mojang has been pretty open about the reuse of their intellectual property, but trademarks can be a touchy issue since licensing trademarks is one of the few really good revenue streams that Mojang has beyond players buying a game license so I can't really say who was in the right or wrong on this issue. The comparison with the Adobe trademarks isn't really an accurate one either, although I will admit that case law for trademarks is tricky enough when you are talking a single national court system, much less when you deal with international intellectual property law and trademark treaties that cross multiple jurisdiction like this particular legal mess ended up doing.
That the situation was settled to both Mojang's and Bethesda's satisfaction should be sufficient here, even though it did end up before judicial authorities.
Earlier in the case, it was theorized by some people that thought Notch was a greedy thingamajig that Notch was doing this to trademark the word "Scrolls", so any game that uses "Scrolls" in the title would have to deal with Notch to use it.
I don't know much about law, but the results of this should shut those people up at least
The only thing Mojang won was the use of the name for this one time, Betheseda has the rights to the word scrolls now. Mojang can not even make a equal to Scrolls without Betheseda permission now. If Betheseda really wanted to they can make a sequal to be dicks.
Playing Skyrim as I read this. I don't see how it could be confused without it being called Eldar Scrolls or something, which would have been kinda screwed up to do to Bethesda. BUT, it's just Scrolls so I don't see why they even cared, aside from probaby thinking "BETHESDA > MOJANG" , and well.. looks like.. knee armor is in order for Bethesda.....
No matter what was won by Bethesda or whatever, It is INDEED a VICTORY for Mojang because they wanted Mojang to not be able to use it at all, which they failed to do. To hell with anything else.
Playing Skyrim as I read this. I don't see how it could be confused without it being called Eldar Scrolls or something, which would have been kinda screwed up to do to Bethesda. BUT, it's just Scrolls so I don't see why they even cared, aside from probaby thinking "BETHESDA > MOJANG" , and well.. looks like.. knee armor is in order for Bethesda.....
No matter what was won by Bethesda or whatever, It is INDEED a VICTORY for Mojang because they wanted Mojang to not be able to use it at all, which they failed to do. To hell with anything else.
i agree completely, they wanted to use a word to name the game. that seems to be it. as far as trademarking or blatent theft, if that was really happening i don't doubt it would be all over the forums, and no other company got a stick up their rear but beth.
in the end beth is just power hungry. i won't believe the trademark bs till i see notch write it down himself. i don't go by hear-say.
i agree completely, they wanted to use a word to name the game. that seems to be it. as far as trademarking or blatent theft, if that was really happening i don't doubt it would be all over the forums, and no other company got a stick up their rear but beth.
in the end beth is just power hungry. i won't believe the trademark bs till i see notch write it down himself. i don't go by hear-say.
You don't have to go by hearsay. http://notch.tumblr.com/post/8519901309/bethesda-are-suing-us-heres-the-full-story
"About half a year ago, our lawyers recommended us to register “Minecraft” as a trademark, so we did. I had voted against it initially, but we did it anyway. Better safe than sorry, and all that. At the same time, we also applied for “Scrolls”, the new game we’re working on. We knew of no similarly named games, and we had even googled it to make sure. I’m not even sure if you CAN trademark individual words, like “Scrolls”, but we sent in the application anyway." ~The Word of Notch
Earlier in the case, it was theorized by some people that thought Notch was a greedy thingamajig that Notch was doing this to trademark the word "Scrolls", so any game that uses "Scrolls" in the title would have to deal with Notch to use it.
I don't know much about law, but the results of this should shut those people up at least
See above; it wasn't a "theory" that he tried trademarking "Scrolls". However, I highly doubt greed had anything to do with it (even on Mojang's lawyers' parts), and Notch says he didn't want to make the trademark, at any rate.
At any rate, I was disappointed to learn Bethesda had claimed the trademark over "Scrolls" from the lawsuit. If anything, this means Mojang 'lost', as they need to deal with Bethesda for any more Scrolls titles - a requirement which actually did not exist prior to the lawsuit. I honestly don't think anyone should have gotten the trademark over Scrolls, even if neither party is likely to turn it into another "Edge" case...
These are the reasons I hate intellectual property laws; if anything they end up stifling creativity and further the conversion of the realm of art into business.
Did you guys even read the patent application? Mojang wanted to have exclusive rights to the word "scrolls" in games, to television, to radio, and practically everything else. That's what this lawsuit was about. Bethesda never really cared about the games getting confused. They didn't want the patent to bite them in the ass when they released Elder Scrolls VI or hell maybe even Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. If Mojang had the patent as it was months ago they could sue Bethesda and keep the game from being released for however long the case took costing millions.
In the end it was Bethesda that won as Mojang can own the word Scrolls for their game and nothing else.
and yet at the bottom of scrolls.com page:
It takes both time to update a webpage, as well as time for lawyers to figure out what to do next in terms of legal advise as a result of a lawsuit like this. Unless there is a formal court order where Notch could land in prison if the website doesn't get updated (for which there isn't such a court or judicial order regarding anything like that) there is no need to hurry and do a knee jerk reaction. Just because Mojang claims it is a trademark doesn't necessarily make it so. That isn't how trademark law works.
Give it a little bit of time. Eventually the impact of this ruling is going to be reflected in whatever Mojang does, but that impact hasn't happened yet. If Bethesda had won and with that win had been able to get a restraining order against Mojang, you had better believe that would have been changed immediately.
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Curse PremiumThe thing is, Bethesda never said they owned the word. However, Mojang applied for a trademark over it, essentially saying that Mojang should exclusively have the right to use "scrolls" in reference to game titles (and potentially titles of other works as well).
Bethesda never tried trademarking "scrolls", so they didn't own it and they didn't try to stop anyone else from making a game with "scrolls" generically used in the title. However, if Mojang acquired trademark over "scrolls", it would conflict with Bethesda's right to call their series "The Elder Scrolls", especially since both Bethesda and Mojang are in the gaming industry.
Whilst the actual developers at Mojang and Bethesda are amicable with each other, no sane company lawyer is gonna leave a loose end like that. To protect Bethesda's right to maintain trademark over "The Elder Scrolls", and prevent Mojang from ever having the ability to sue them over it, they had to stop Mojang from trademarking "scrolls" in the first place.
Imagine if Jasc applied for a trademark of "shop" in reference to their "Paintshop" software. This would be a direct threat to Adobe, which is already under threat of losing their trademark over "Photoshop" (thanks to modern usage referring to any edited image), specifically because both Paintshop and Photoshop are digital image editing software. Neither company owns trademark over "shop" in reference to image editing, but if either applied for such a trademark they would be threatening the other (whether intentionally or not).
I don't see this as either side being greedy; it's just a consequence of how laws over trademark work. I don't think either side was "bad" here, and I don't think either side won or lost. Let it be noted that Notch said he didn't originally want to try trademarking "scrolls", and that the lawsuit itself was done directly in response to the trademark application. Bethesda would not have sued to stop Mojang from naming their game "Scrolls"; if they didn't want anyone to make a game called "Scrolls" they would have trademarked the word themselves.
But seriously, glad that the lawsuit ended.
My escape map right here (Parts 1 and 2) ---> this
2. Well, if it weren't for the fact I'm kinda tied up on my own server the Savage REalms thing looks really cool...
3. Hooray for Mojang being able to use Scrolls as their title! Sounds like a fun game, might just have to try that Alpha...
This isn't quite right either. Bethesda and Mojang could have worked out a joint licensing agreement between the two companies and still protected the respective trademarks. I am not privy to the negotiations that happened between Mojang and Bethesda, but the point that should be raised is that these negotiations between these two companies broke down in a real hurry and led to a judge acting as a referee to decide how it should end up. If you can settle out of court, it makes life a whole lot easier... but somebody got greedy and I don't know if it was Mojang or Bethesda.
Obviously around here it would be Mojang's side that would be usually supported. On the whole Mojang has been pretty open about the reuse of their intellectual property, but trademarks can be a touchy issue since licensing trademarks is one of the few really good revenue streams that Mojang has beyond players buying a game license so I can't really say who was in the right or wrong on this issue. The comparison with the Adobe trademarks isn't really an accurate one either, although I will admit that case law for trademarks is tricky enough when you are talking a single national court system, much less when you deal with international intellectual property law and trademark treaties that cross multiple jurisdiction like this particular legal mess ended up doing.
That the situation was settled to both Mojang's and Bethesda's satisfaction should be sufficient here, even though it did end up before judicial authorities.
Version 2.1 now updated for MC 1.6.2
I don't know much about law, but the results of this should shut those people up at least
No matter what was won by Bethesda or whatever, It is INDEED a VICTORY for Mojang because they wanted Mojang to not be able to use it at all, which they failed to do. To hell with anything else.
i agree completely, they wanted to use a word to name the game. that seems to be it. as far as trademarking or blatent theft, if that was really happening i don't doubt it would be all over the forums, and no other company got a stick up their rear but beth.
in the end beth is just power hungry. i won't believe the trademark bs till i see notch write it down himself. i don't go by hear-say.
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Curse PremiumYou don't have to go by hearsay.
http://notch.tumblr.com/post/8519901309/bethesda-are-suing-us-heres-the-full-story
"About half a year ago, our lawyers recommended us to register “Minecraft” as a trademark, so we did. I had voted against it initially, but we did it anyway. Better safe than sorry, and all that. At the same time, we also applied for “Scrolls”, the new game we’re working on. We knew of no similarly named games, and we had even googled it to make sure. I’m not even sure if you CAN trademark individual words, like “Scrolls”, but we sent in the application anyway." ~The Word of Notch
See above; it wasn't a "theory" that he tried trademarking "Scrolls". However, I highly doubt greed had anything to do with it (even on Mojang's lawyers' parts), and Notch says he didn't want to make the trademark, at any rate.
At any rate, I was disappointed to learn Bethesda had claimed the trademark over "Scrolls" from the lawsuit. If anything, this means Mojang 'lost', as they need to deal with Bethesda for any more Scrolls titles - a requirement which actually did not exist prior to the lawsuit. I honestly don't think anyone should have gotten the trademark over Scrolls, even if neither party is likely to turn it into another "Edge" case...
These are the reasons I hate intellectual property laws; if anything they end up stifling creativity and further the conversion of the realm of art into business.
In the end it was Bethesda that won as Mojang can own the word Scrolls for their game and nothing else.