Blizzard’s move to trademark “Overwatch” for its upcoming shooter looks to have been settled after over a year of battling with Innovis Labs whose application pre-dated Blizzard’s by about seven months.
Innovis Labs application for control of the “Overwatch” name was in relation to their iOS app Overwatch which promises
“… is the next generation in interactive gaming; bringing the features of combat video games to real life airsoft, paintball, and laser tag matches.”
In April 2014, Seven months after their application, Blizzard tried to trademark “Overwatch” and Innovis filed against them for infringement. In July 2014 both parties signed a co-existence agreement which relied on Blizzard’s Overwatch not causing confusion with Innovis’ app. However, in 2015 Innovis filed again because Blizzard’s use was misleading potential customers and it was impossible to market their game as by that time Blizzard’s Overwatch had saturated the market.
Now it seems Innovis will surrender its registered Overwatch trademark and the suspension of Blizzard’s application will likely be lifted. The details of the deal aren’t known but probably Blizzard parted with a reasonable amount of cash to make the problem go away.
Source: McArthur Law Firm.
