WotLK trademarked by Blizzard

by Mike Schramm Aug 2nd 2007 at 11:30AM

And it looks like the final nail has been hammered in to support the "Wrath of the Lich King" speculation-- as MMO Champion points out, Blizzard Entertainment has registered "Wrath of the Lich King" as a trademark (you've got to do a search for it on the USPTO's website, as they don't allow links to searches), all but confirming that the next expansion will take us to Arthas' domain in Northrend.

Now, just to play devil's advocate, there is still a chance that Blizzard did this as a smokescreen, and that the expansion has nothing to do with the Lich King. But the trademark was filed on July 28th, which by my estimation puts it a few days ahead of the speculation-- that's a pretty strong indication that while Blizzard waited until the last minute to do it (knowing BlizzCon was only a week or so away), they didn't wait long enough to keep us from leaking it out.

The other note is that the ~~patent~~ trademark (note to self: don't piss off the lawyers!) covers not only computer games, but also "comic books," "trading cards," "coloring books," and "greeting cards," among a number of other types of items. I don't know if I ever saw any Burning Crusade greeting cards, but maybe Blizzard expects their little WoW empire to get even bigger in the future.

So: Friday. BlizzCon. Wrath of the Lich King. Be there!

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Tags: arthas, blizzard, blizzcon, confirmation, expansion, rumors, speculation, trademark, uspto, wrathofthelichking

Filed under: Events, Blizzard, Expansions, BlizzCon

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

OutlandishTrendz Aug 2nd 2007 11:36AM

I may eat my words, but oh well, I hope Blizz has done all this just to make people think it. Its honestly getting old to see endless topics on the same thing over this over and over. Deep down inside me I hope all this is just a coverup by Blizz for something totally different.

perambulator Aug 2nd 2007 11:40AM

Umm you said "the patent covers not only computer games" - it's not a patent it's a trademark. and its the "Description of Goods and/or Services" that covers those items. Basically, Blizzards is claiming that mark as identification of the goods and/or services sold under that mark. Patents are a whole other ball game and not at all relevant here.

Shinagani Aug 2nd 2007 11:47AM

Khaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnn!!!!

Dang it - say it ain't so...

Jorane Aug 2nd 2007 11:58AM

Coloring books? Are there really WOW coloring books? I knew that WOW had some young players, but geez - if people that are still dual-wielding Crayolas can play, then Blizz might want to buff the difficulty of the game a little.

lfnotter Aug 2nd 2007 12:04PM

Greeting cards could be interesting. I suppose nothing says "Get well soon" or "Grats on the new baby" like a crazed taurean with a big freakin' axe...

Todd Aug 2nd 2007 12:10PM

Um, is this really best practice to wait until the last moment to buy up a possible new franchise name? I think Blizzard has better business sense than that. This could very well be a smokescreen.

brendan Aug 2nd 2007 12:13PM

Any lawyer types have any idea why Blizzard would need to file 3 patents for this when as far as I can tell, they only ever filed one for The Burning Crusade? Also, Blizzard have previously filed for the World of Warcraft trademark to cover greetings cards, as well as, interestingly, a hand held gaming unit. So it probably doesn't mean much.

Rich Aug 2nd 2007 12:17PM

Watch, that Wrath of the Lich King is the next card game expansion and not the next WoW expansion. lol

Simon F Aug 2nd 2007 12:26PM

I am not a lawyer and my remarks are not legal advice nor do I represent Blizzard in any way shape or form. However, they aren't actually trademarks yet; they're applications for trademarks. The USPTO hasn't registered them as a mark yet. Which means that they may not get registered, and it also means that they don't have to use the trademark yet. For a mark to be registered it has to be in use in commerce, which this obviously isn't at the moment. Where it says Filing Basis 1B, it's an intent-to-use, which means that the USPTO won't allow the mark to register until they're using it in commerce.

So they may be there as a false trail; like some Harry Potter trademark applications were (such as HP and the Death Head's Plot, HP and the Curse of the Dementor, HP and the Hogsmeade Tomb etc which you can still search for on TESS).

Also: the reason for filing three is simple - for each description of goods, computer games, books, and guides, there are different international classes you must file in - so computer software class would be one, books class would be another etc. You can specify all three classes and descriptions in one application, or you can do one application per class. The reason is if the USPTO refuses one class it's much easier to simply drop that one application completely than it is to maintain a single application with multiple classes that could be refused or amended. So if the comic book class was refused, they wouldn't have to reapply with the software and guides classes.

Again, not a lawyer and I do not mean to act as one (sorry, gotta say it!)

Baluki Aug 2nd 2007 12:44PM

When people are registering trademarks, they just cast their net as wide as possible. It rarely means that they intend to create ALL those things, nor ONLY those things.

ian Aug 2nd 2007 1:52PM

well.. I better get my ass moving through outland then. Damn my hunter is lazy.

perambulator Aug 2nd 2007 2:27PM

In order to get a trademark registered at the US Patent and Trademark Office the mark has to be in use. You do not have to register a mark to be able to use it in commerce, but doing so gives you additional protection. If you apply for US trademark registration, you have to pay a seperate filing fee for each different type of goods and/or services. Each of the three registrations have a different scope of coverage. The standard for applying for a trademark is that you must have an intent to use the mark in commerce. So in all liklihood this is probably the way that Blizzard is going, otherwise its an expensive diversion (although admittedly, its not like they don't have the money). (Yeah I'm an IP attorney.)