Blizzard getting sneakier with its trademark filings

[KIRSTYBELLE]

Anyone else have to Google Swaziland to figure out where the hell it is?

I didnt have to...

[Harmzuay]

I second this question. There is no trademark after Hearthstone as far as I can see?

He probably just meant the next trademark in the list, not the next one from Blizzard.

[Pann]

I could be wrong but I do not think the trademark in Swaziland has anything to do with Blizzard as there is an entry under the Prosecution History which states "new application entered in TRAM" on 10/07/13. It looks to me that Blizzard have filed for the trademark and then found out someone else has registered it in Swaziland, although I could be completely wrong.

edit Looking through Cata's filling there are a number of entries under the prosecution history so it is probably nothing.

[Kuniku]

Sneaky mother fuckers! They must all play rogues! NEWS JUST IN - rogue overhaul next patch because of how sneaky blizzard are! =p

[Captain Gir]

Actually, it's just Alpha, not Alpha Beta. Alpha and Beta are 2 separate stages
It used to go F&F Alpha, then invite only Beta.

Yeah that was a typo on the beta part :P

[Yunru]

Maybe the expansion is so bad that they want it too be top secret. Or the other way araund. Some1 will probaly dig something very secret like soon now that we know this.

[FuxieDK]

Anyone else have to Google Swaziland to figure out where the hell it is?

Common knowledge, that it's a contry in Africa..

Atleast common knowledge in countries, where you are taught a minimum of geography...

[brothernads]

I could be wrong but I do not think the trademark in Swaziland has anything to do with Blizzard as there is an entry under the Prosecution History which states "new application entered in TRAM" on 10/07/13. It looks to me that Blizzard have filed for the trademark and then found out someone else has registered it in Swaziland, although I could be completely wrong.

edit Looking through Cata's filling there are a number of entries under the prosecution history so it is probably nothing.

Right, TRAM is just what the US Trademark Office calls the database used by its examiners. Nothing special.

[yetgdhfgh]

Someone file a shit load of possible expac patent names so we can scare blizz into revealing it and patenting it LOL

Also i knew where swaziland was as soon as i saw the name its in africa

[brothernads]

So what I want to know is if the US trademark office had any knowledge of it when it was registered in a foreign country in order to give priority. If someone registered Hearthstone in the US during that period between the Swaziland registration and the US registration, what happens?

Blizzard wins due to its earlier filing date in Swaziland. Because both US and Swaziland are parties to the Paris Convention Treaty, Blizzard's filing in Swaziland triggers a 6-month window in which it can then file in the US and retain the Swaziland filing date as its priority date. So anyone filing after that date (Feb. 28) would be junior to Blizzard's Hearthstone mark.

The Hearthstone mark does not even need to register as an actual trademark in Swaziland for the US application to get the Swaziland date, filing an application in Swaziland is enough.

Considering the list of countries that are parties to the Paris Convention (http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/Show...en&treaty_id=2), it'd be a tall order to actually find any foreign filings by Blizzard if they use some of the smaller countries on the list.

[CosmicGuitars]

This is pretty interesting. Good post.

[Deleted]

Anyone else have to Google Swaziland to figure out where the hell it is?

Nope, we have a pretty good educational system here in Europe.

[Crysis]

Apparently you're pretty close.

Also I love their motto as listed on Wikipedia.



They sound pretty serious about protecting that trademark information.

Sir, you just made my day! Hadn't been laughing so hard in months )

[Deleted]

And this, my son, was the day when mmochamp decided to invade Swazilandia.

[KillerChinchilla]

Aww..I was looking forward to the expansion name leaking within the next month and seeing the hype about it rise etc. I can't see how it's a bad thing for Blizzard when the expansion name leaks, it gets people talking about it which surely that's what they want?

[ro9ue]

Blizzard wins due to its earlier filing date in Swaziland...

Gotcha, thanks for the info.

Now quick someone go through all these country trademark filing offices and find one from Blizzard!
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/Show...en&treaty_id=2

[Buu]

Wait, that doesn't make sense. It still get ANY filing in the US priority. If anyone else in the US wanted they would still get a priority in the TM over the foreign application.

In practice protecting NOTHING. Seems to me that was just a coincidence or someone with privileged information and Blizzard delayed the TM to settle down with the other part trying to file the mark.

[TJ]

Go try and find patents that Apple has. You cant'? Oh, that's right - because they are a smart company and "hide" their patents under bs titles and names

Grats to Blizzard for finally stepping up their game and coming to their senses

Speculation can give big press and hype for an expansion, so dismissing it as stupid every time could be seen as wrong.

Everyone has been calling for a Legion expansion and many players have said that they would come back if the Legion was involved in the next expac. If word got out early about this, then I'm sure a lot of former players would want to come back. Not only that, demons and a distant planet being the main attraction is much better than the main face of the game being "OMG PANDAS, WTF!". It would definitely yield a better chance of subs increasing again.

[Arson]

searching for Blizzard Enterainment gives shitloads atleast. http://www.wipo.int/branddb/en/index.jsp#

I especially like the trademark for "N00BZ"

xD

edit: probably not any usefull information, but was fun looking.

[Yizelin]

searching for Blizzard Enterainment gives shitloads atleast. http://www.wipo.int/branddb/en/index.jsp#

I especially like the trademark for "N00BZ"

xD

edit: probably not any usefull information, but was fun looking.

To be fair, N00BZ are pretty cool: