Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals – if there is a green and black version of the logo we couldn’t find it (pic: Glowstick)



Corporate trademark trolls are at it again, as the makers of Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals vow to fight for their name in court.



One of the favourite hobbies of big companies is to sue anyone that sells something with an even remotely similar name to them, often based on merely a single word being the same.



There was all that nonsense with Bethesda trying to stop people using the word ‘Scrolls’ , Candy Crush Saga maker King going after anyone using the word ‘Saga’ , and publisher Take-Two forcing It Takes Two to lose its trademark .



It’s hard to say which one is more absurd, but it’s probably Monster Energy forcing indie developer Glowstick Entertainment to change the name of its game Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals. Although, the good news is Glowstick say they’re going to fight to keep the name.



Not only is it Monsters in the plural, and only one part of a larger name, but no reasonable person would expect to be confused between an energy drink and what Glowsitck describe as a ’ multiplayer horror party game.’



According to Glowstick’s Vincent Livings, Monster Energy is also upset that the logo for the game features the colours black and green. Because that totally makes it much harder to tell the difference between a drink and a video game.



‘It’s well known that Monster Energy is a notorious trademark troll,’ wrote Livings on Twitter, as first spotted by TheGamer . ‘Unfortunately, they’re at it again. For a company that likes to target their drinks at gamers, they also like to try to bully and bankrupt game studios with lengthy high dollar litigation.’



‘They claim that our game is confusingly similar to their energy drink,’ says Livings. ‘Yep, that’s really their claim. Rather than roll over, I’m going to fight them in court.’



This is not the first time that Monster Energy, whose parent company is called just Monster, has gone after a video game, as they’re the reason that Ubisoft had to change the name of Gods & Monsters to the disastrously unmemorable Immortals Fenyx Rising .



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Why Ubisoft didn’t fight them, considering they’re a considerably bigger company than Glowstick, isn’t known but perhaps Glowstick underestimates the task ahead.



There rarely seems to be any logic to these actions though, as while it’s a game few have probably heard of the Monsters & Mortals brand has actually been around for years and it’s unclear why Monster has suddenly gone after it now.



‘Monster Energy is a bully that is owned by Coca-Cola,’ said Livings. ‘Do not support a bully company by buying their energy drinks. If nothing else, I hope they eventually learn that going after game studios is not in their best interest.’










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