Activision is embroiled in a trademark lawsuit with the developer of a strategy game called Warzone.
The mega-publisher filed a suit seeking a declaration that Activision’s use and registration of the trademark’s Warzone and Call of Duty Warzone do not infringe on the trademark rights relating to the free-to-play, turn-based Warzone strategy game.
Warzone the strategy game came out in 2017. Activision’s battle royale launched three years later, in 2020.
The suit, filed on 8th April in the US District Court for the Central District of California, comes in response to a threat of litigation from Randy Ficker, the Washington-based developer of Warzone.
In June 2020, Activision filed applications for registrations of the trademarks of Warzone and Call of Duty Warzone – just a few months after the battle royale came out.
Then, in October, Warzone.com, LLC filed applications for registration of the trademark Warzone. Oppositions to each other’s trademark attempt followed in November. This opposition is currently pending before the USPTO.
Activision said Ficker’s lawyer sent Activision a cease and desist letter on 20th November, demanding Activision change the name of its games, stop using Warzone’s Warzone mark, and abandon the trademark applications. Activision disputed this in a letter dated 16th February 2021.