common-law
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Mafia Wars trademark battle heats up with revealing Zynga letter made public
Digital Chocolate is suing Zynga over its use of the name "Mafia Wars," an alleged trademark infringement -- this much we know. Last night, however, Joystiq acquired the full, 157-page complaint. The crux of the suit is Digital Chocolate's common law trademark claim to the name "Mafia Wars," though the company never formally registered the name (as Zynga did last summer). In registering the trademark last July, Zynga claims under penalty of perjury that it has "belief no other person, firm, corporation or association has the right to use the mark in commerce, either in the identical form thereof or in such near resemblance thereto as to be likely ... to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive." It's on this stipulation which Digital Chocolate hinges its lawsuit, and the company has proof that Zynga knew about DC's version of Mafia Wars.%Gallery-100583%
The Lawbringer: Know your (legal) lore
Welcome to The Lawbringer, WoW.com's weekly feature that explores the intersection of the World of Warcraft and the law. I am a third year law student acting as the crossing guard at this intersection, trying to avoid getting run over myself. Last week, I promised we'd examine European contract law. Silly me, I was thinking that this would be a matter of snooping through Wikipedia, checking a few books out from the local law library, and banging out a short sweet informative column. Remember that feeling when you first leave Northshire Abbey or Red Cloud Mesa and you realize there's a whole wide World of Warcraft out there? That has been this week's experience in learning about European contract law. While I would love to explain all the cool things I've learned, that would take a book, not a 1200 word column. I'll cut this material down to manageable chunks. This week, we'll be limiting ourselves to a discussion of how the two systems of law impact how WoW will be treated under each one.
