Mythic sues Microsoft over Mythica

Dark Age of Camelot developer Mythic Entertainment is suing Microsoft for infringing its trademark and engaging in unfair competition. According to a complaint filed with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on December 19th, Microsoft's forthcoming massively-multiplayer online RPG Mythica infringes on the developer's name and trademark, and Mythic wants unspecified financial damages and legal fees - and above all else for Microsoft to stop using the name.

According to Mythic, Microsoft has already once refused to stop using the name, and the developer eventually felt it had no choice but to act. You can better understand its annoyance when you consider that Mythic's popular MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot was based on Arthurian legends, Celtic lore and Norse mythology whilst Microsoft's similarly named MMORPG Mythica also lists Norse mythology as one of its key inspirations.

Says Mythic president and CEO Mark Jacobs, "We cannot allow Microsoft to usurp our rights, confuse the public, and use the Mythic brand to gain an unfair competitive advantage." Furthermore, Jacobs told GameSpot that "[Mythic] had hoped not to have to resolve this in court, and it is truly unfortunate that Microsoft declined to respect Mythic's rights."

"We would expect Microsoft to react no differently if someone launched an operating system called Microsofta, just as Microsoft did when confronted with an operating system called Lindows," he added.