Mojang and Bethesda Reach Settlement Over “Scrolls” Legal Case

Markus “Notch” Persson, owner of the indie development studio Mojang, informed us via his official Twitter account that a settlement has been reached with Bethesda over the ongoing legal controversy surrounding the name of their upcoming indie title ‘Scrolls’. Here are the details of the settlement:

The settlement is that we give them the trademark, get to keep the name, and won’t make an elder scrolls competitor using the name.

It’s nice to see this story concluding well for both parties involved, and hopefully this also means we’ll be done with the legal reporting, at least for a while.

UPDATE: Bethesda has since issued a press release announcing the settlement:

ZENIMAX® MEDIA AND MOJANG SETTLE ‘˜SCROLLS’ TRADEMARK LAWSUIT

Mojang Transfers (SCROLLS) Trademark to ZeniMax

ZeniMax to Allow Mojang Use of (SCROLLS) Mark on Digital Card Game

March 12, 2012 (Rockville, MD) ZeniMax® Media Inc. today announced that a settlement has been reached in the lawsuit it filed over Mojang’s applications for ownership of the ‘˜Scrolls’ trademark. The lawsuit was filed by ZeniMax when Mojang submitted applications covering a range of ‘˜Scrolls’ trademarks for use in video games and other media. In its complaint, ZeniMax cited a conflict with its longstanding trademark for ‘˜The Elder Scrolls’, the name of its highly-successful video game franchise published by ZeniMax Media’s publishing arm, Bethesda® Softworks.

Under the terms of the settlement, all ownership rights to the ‘˜Scrolls’ trademark will transfer to ZeniMax, and Mojang will assign to ZeniMax ownership of any pending (Scrolls’ trademark applications. ZeniMax has licensed the ‘˜Scrolls’ mark to Mojang to be used solely in conjunction with its existing Scrolls digital card game and any  add-on material it makes to that game.  The terms of the settlement bar Mojang from using the Scrolls mark for any sequel to the current card game, or any other video game.

“We are pleased to have settled this matter with Mojang amicably,) said Robert Altman, Chairman and CEO of ZeniMax. (The Elder Scrolls is an important brand to us, and with this settlement we were able to protect our valuable property rights while allowing Mojang to release their digital card game under the name they preferred.)

About ZeniMax Media Inc.
ZeniMax Media is a privately owned media organization headquartered outside Washington DC with international offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Eindhoven, and Tokyo. Through its subsidiaries, ZeniMax Media creates and publishes original interactive entertainment content for consoles, the PC, and handheld/wireless devices.  ZeniMax Media divisions include Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, Arkane Studios, Tango Gameworks, MachineGames Sweden, ZeniMax Europe Ltd., ZeniMax Asia K.K. and ZeniMax Online Studios.   For more information on ZeniMax Media, visit www.zenimax.com.

About Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Softworks, part of the ZeniMax Media Inc. family of companies, is a worldwide publisher of premier interactive entertainment software. Titles featured under the Bethesda label include such blockbuster franchises as DOOM®, QUAKE®, The Elder Scrolls®, Fallout®, Wolfenstein®  and RAGE®. For more information on Bethesda Softworks’ products, visit www.bethsoft.com.