The trademark lawsuit between Skyrim publisher Bethesda and Minecraft developer Mojang AB will have its day in court.
Last month, Bethesda sent the Swedish studio a letter alleging that the title of their upcoming game, Scrolls, was close enough to that of their Elder Scrolls series to confuse consumers. As a result, the name would need to be changed to avoid copyright infringement. Mojang has thus far refused to comply, leading to this escalation.
Mojang head Markus Persson, better known to the world as Notch, revealed the news via his Twitter feed. The announcement was unusually cheery, reading "The Scrolls case is going to court! Weee! :D". Then again, should we expect anything different from the man who wanted to settle the dispute with a Quake 3 deathmatch?
With this lawsuit now headed for Swedish court, Mojang will have to present evidence that their fantasy-themed card-battle game is distinct enough to not be confused with Bethesda's series of open-world action RPGs. Mojang's business developer, Daniel Kaplan, told Gamasutra that the difference in genre should be enough to distinguish the games, calling the lawsuit "really silly."
Personally, I'm hoping they reach a settlement where Mojang gets to keep the name in exchange for Notch's hat and beard. You know Todd Howard would look dashing with that combo.
