Blizzard Probably Must Change Overwatch's Name

Blizzard announced an upcoming new IP late last year called Overwatch, and at least right now it’s looking to be a recipe for success; you have Pixar’s art style, Team Fortress 2 Style of class-based gameplay, League of Legends/DOTA’s roster of memorable and interesting characters… why, just about everything about Overwatch seems to be perfect.

Except Overwatch itself. The name, I mean; because according to a letter sent by the United States Patient and Trademark office, Blizzard lost out on the right to the name ‘Overwatch’ by two months.

As it turns out, the name had been taken already by a Smartphone app being developed Innovis Labs. The Overwatch app is actually pretty cool—designed to be used in Airsoft and Paintball players as a way to communicate with their team and use GPS to track enemy and ally movements. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have much in common with the Overwatch game (Except, maybe, the first-person perspective) and since Innovis Labs did pre-date the Blizzard trademark application by two months, it’s unlikely Blizzard would win if they took it to court.

Therefore, it seems Blizzard is going to have to change the name of it’s game. I guess this is why you wait to hear back from the Patent and Trademark office before you announce your game, huh?

I’ll update this article if Blizzard ever makes a comment on the issue.