Blizzard Entertainment Awarded Court Order Upholding Diablo Trademark.Business Editors & Entertainment/High-Tech Writers IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 2001 Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Games, is an American computer game developer and publisher headquartered in Irvine, California. History Blizzard Entertainment was founded by Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce as Silicon & Synapse (R) today announced that a federal judge has granted a Preliminary Injunction A temporary order made by a court at the request of one party that prevents the other party from pursuing a particular course of conduct until the conclusion of a trial on the merits. A preliminary injunction is regarded as extraordinary relief. motion against New Line Cinema Corp., prohibiting the motion picture studio from advertising, promoting or releasing an upcoming motion picture under the name "Diablo(R)," or under any other name that is likely to cause confusion with or likely to dilute Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo marks. This ruling prohibits New Line from using the mark Diablo in any form, whether used alone or in combination with any other words. Blizzard Entertainment owns a registered U.S. trademark for Diablo in connection with computer games. Blizzard also owns a pending U.S. intent-to-use trademark application for Diablo in connection with the production and distribution of motion pictures. The filing date of Blizzard's trademark applications was in 1996, more than four years before New Line Cinema began using its title "Diablo" to advertise and promote its upcoming film. Debuting in 1996, the Diablo series from Blizzard Entertainment, including Diablo, Diablo II Diablo II, sequel to the popular game Diablo, is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game in a hack and slash or "Dungeon Roaming" style. It was released for both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS in 2000 by Blizzard Entertainment. and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, has been considered a critical success, dominating PC game charts with sales in excess of 7.5 million copies worldwide according to NPD NPD New Product Development NPD Nouveau Parti Démocratique (Canada) NPD Narcissistic Personality Disorder NPD Norwegian Petroleum Directorate NPD Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands INTELECT(a) and key retail accounts around the world. Industry pundits have also awarded Diablo II several accolades including the prestigious Computer Game of the Year, Computer Role Playing Game See CRPG. of the Year and Game of the Year for 2001 by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. The original Diablo was honored as the number-one selling computer role-playing game Best known for blockbuster hits including the Warcraft(R) series, StarCraft(R) and Diablo(R) series, Blizzard Entertainment(R) (www.blizzard.com), (a division of Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing) is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating many of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard's track record includes four consecutive number-one selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's free Internet gaming service Battle.net(R) reigns as the largest in the world with millions of active users. Note (a): NPD INTELECT |
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