An indie developer (whose surname is just one letter away from a certain curse word…) and Activision Blizzard both want to own the trademark to Warzone, resulting in a legal battle…

The Washington Post reports that Ficker (whose name we typoed by reflex at first…) released a mobile game in 2017. It is called Warzone, and it was a follow up to Warlight, which got over a million players. Randy Ficker then spent a hefty amount of cash to acquire both the domain and the legal costs behind it for Warzone: sixty thousand dollars is no joke.

However, Activision Blizzard stepped in with a free-to-play title, Call of Duty: Warzone. Ficker told the following to The Washington Post: „I didn’t understand the significance of it at first. I’ve never had any trademark disputes before…I’m just a game developer. It didn’t bother me until I found out they [filed] the trademark for ‘Warzone,’ so I contacted a trademark lawyer.”

This led to Ficker opposing Activision Blizzard’s trademark application, which led to a back-and-forth between the two parties. His lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to the publisher (in short: step away from the trademark or face the consequences), which led to some negotiations. However, the publisher wanted to offer a meagre ten thousand dollars. Ficker refused it, which led to Activision Blizzard taking him to court, also demanding that he pays the publisher’s attorney fees and costs.

„The defendant named in this suit has baselessly threatened the company. We do not infringe upon his intellectual property. We are filing this action so the court can reject his frivolous and irresponsible claims,” Activision Blizzard told The Washington Post. And the outcome of this case could set a precedent for future trademark disputes. Ficker has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help fight the case.

But here’s the thing: we are talking about Activision Blizzard. A company that is swimming in money and profits nowadays, especially how they lay off employees even in Europe…

Source: PSL