An Interplay insider has once again provided Duck and Cover with a partial transcript of December’s preliminary injunction hearing in the Bethesda v. Interplay Fallout trademark dispute. If you need a refresher on the history of the dispute, you can read previous Laws of Play coverage here.
More Transcripts from Bethesda/Interplay Injunction Hearing Released
Published: January 14, 2010Posted in: News
Interesting post and great site!
It may be that Bethesda’s lawyers didn’t understand the purpose of preliminary injunctions, I suppose. But isn’t a more likely explanation (assuming US preliminary injunctions are anything like English preliminary injunctions, which they seem to be) that they knew exactly what they are for, but were taking an (ultimately unsuccessful) gamble at obtaining potentially quite damaging preliminary relief, which could conceivably have brought Interplay to the table?
Incidentally, Bethesda is going to appeal – http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23584. Any thoughts on the likely timeframe?
Jas
I think that the lack of understanding regarding the type of relief granted by preliminary injunctions (which seems apparent in the previous transcript) may have been a reason that Bethesda ultimately changed representation, but you’re absolutely correct that a preliminary injunction was a worthwhile gamble.
As far as a future time line is concerned, your guess is as good as mine.