Some of you seem to be confused about this case. The content farm journalists don't help.
This is Case No. 2:21-cv-3073, filed April 8th, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Here are some excerpts from Activision Publishing, Inc.'s complaint:
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
... Activision respectfully requests that this Court enter judgment...:
1. Declaring that Defendant does not possess exclusive trademark rights in the term "Warzone."
2. Declaring that Activision's use of the WARZONE or CALL OF DUTY WARZONE Marks does not infringe... any existing and valid common law tradmark rights of [Warzone.com, LLC]...
3. Declaring that Activision's use of WARZONE or CALL OF DUTY WARZONE is not likely to cause, and has not caused, confusion... as to the affiliation... of [Warzone.com, LLC,] with Activision's goods and services...
4. Declaring that Activision's pending applications for registration of the marks WARZONE and CALL OF DUTY WARZONE may proceed to registration;
5. Declaring that [Warzone.com, LLC's] pending applications for registration of the mark WARZONE should not proceed to registration
...
Other than a request to be awarded "reasonable attorney's fees and costs," Activision is not going after Warzone for money or suing to shut down this game or force it to change its name. The above is the gist of what Activision wants from this lawsuit.
Why does Activision want this? You can learn that from the complaint as well:
The Parties' Dispute
On or about June 25, 2020, Activision filed applications for registration of the trademarks WARZONE... and CALL OF DUTY WARZONE...
On October 30, 2020, [Warzone.com, LLC,] filed applications for registration of the trademark WARZONE...
On November 3, 2020, the marks subject to the Activision Applications were published for opposition in the Trademark Official Gazette. The same day, [Warzone.com, LLC] filed a Notice of Opposition to registration of the Activision Marks
To avoid some confusion about how trademark law works:
A trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services. It’s how customers recognize you in the marketplace and distinguish you from your competitors.
(
https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/what-trademark)
Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods and/or services.
(
https://www.uspto.gov/page/about-trademark-infringement)
In other words:
- In June of last year, Activision, the maker of Call of Duty: Warzone, filed to trademark the terms "CALL OF DUTY WARZONE" and "WARZONE" (i.e., to legally register that they use those terms to distinctively market their products)
- Later that year, Warzone.com, LLC, filed to trademark "WARZONE" itself and opposed Activision's trademark claims to "CALL OF DUTY WARZONE" and "WARZONE" by claiming trademark infringement- i.e., they argued that Activision's use of "Warzone" would confuse consumers into believing that Call of Duty: Warzone had something to do with this Warzone
- Since then and now, Activision and Warzone's lawyers have been writing back and forth without progress
- Activision is now suing Warzone to get Warzone out of their way as they use the term "Warzone" to market their products and trademark the term "WARZONE" to be used for Activision marketing
In my lay opinion, it is
highly unlikely that Activision shuts down this game, bankrupts Warzone.com, LLC, or uses legal means to force Warzone.com, LLC, to change its name. Indeed, it's not what they are asking for nor what is at issue in the case.
If you are curious about this case, the Case Number listed above should be sufficient to gain access to public documents about it. You do not have to rely on third-rate journalists for your information here. Meanwhile, do not panic.
