Blizzard falls short in ‘Overwatch’ TM dispute at UKIPO
Video game publisher Blizzard Entertainment has failed in a trademark opposition at the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO), in a win for software company F5 Networks.
Blizzard, the company behind “World of Warcraft” and “Starcraft”, objected to F5’s trademark application for ‘F5 Overwatch’.
The F5 mark covers “software as a service (SaaS) providing computer network operators with the ability to monitor and inventory network applications”.
Blizzard said there was a likelihood of confusion based on its trademark for the “Overwatch” first-person shooter video game.
F5 argued that that the goods and services covered by each company’s respective marks were a “world away”, heading off any possibility of consumers confusing the two brands.
The IPO has sided with F5, with the examiner finding: “I do not see any meaningful overlap between the respective average consumers which would lead me to reach a conclusion that there is a likelihood of direct or indirect confusion.”
The examiner agreed with lawyers for F5 on the lack of similarity between the goods and services covered by the two marks, and the trade channels they would be marketed in.
This was especially true given that F5’s services were “specialist and that they would be sought by businesses involving computer network operators”.
“They are not services which the general public would seek or require and given the specialist nature they would command a high degree of attention upon purchasing them,” the examiner wrote.
Sky v SkyKick
Notably, the examiner also considered the breadth of F5’s mark in light of the English High Court’s decision in Sky v SkyKick.
That decision effectively spelled the end for UK trademarks covering “computer software”, instead requiring trademark owners to specify the type of products covered by their marks.
The examiner found that F5’s mark was suitably “narrow” to avoid being struck out in light of the SkyKick ruling.
Blizzard Entertainment is a division of Activision Blizzard, one of the leading developers and publishers in the video game industry.
Blizzard has been active in IP litigation, including high-profile patent disputes at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
In May, the Federal Circuit ruled that Blizzard and other game makers had not infringed an animation patent owned by McRO.
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