NovaLogic Suing Activision, Turtle Beach, Microsoft, and BadyGAMES over Delta Force Logo

[Shawn Zipay]

NovaLogic, the developer behind the Delta Force FPS series is suing Activision over its use of the trademark and logo for "Delta Force." NovaLogic holds the trademark for the name since 1998, having since released nine games with that name in the years following.

As it turns out, players in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 play or are involved in missions with members of a group called "Delta Force". You can see where this is going. However, there is a small twist in this and we'll let Polygon explain it for us.

As the NovaLogic complaint points out, there's no official U.S. military unit called Delta Force upon which Activision could base said missions. However, there is a Special Operations unit called 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D), which is colloquially referred to as Delta Force — but not by the U.S. government.

"The U.S. Army officially denies that any unit called Delta Force exists and does not claim ownership to either the Delta Force name or the logo," the complaint reads.

In addition, the emblems (pictured above) show just how closely Modern Warfare 3's Delta Force logo (left) resembles that of the one used by NovaLogic (right). The 1st SFOD-D has a vastly different insignia than the game related Delta Force logos. However, the "unofficial" emblem of the group, as seen here in a book by the unit's founder Col. Charlie Beckwith, actually closely resembles that of the Modern Warfare 3 and Delta Force (game series) logos.

It seems as though Activision has ignored not one but two cease and desist letters sent in May and December of 2011. NovaLogic is suing over damages and seeking an injunction for trademark infringement.

This lawsuit also includes the fact that Activision has released multiple maps with the branding and logo use of Delta Force and is slated to be included in future DLC releases.

The final kicker comes from the fact that Activision licensed the logo to Turtle Beach, Microsoft, and BradyGAMES without NovaLogic's permission. Both Turtle Beach and Microsoft have created hardware configurations making use of this logo. BradyGAMES has used this logo in a variety of publications as a result of this move from Activision.

(Courthouse News (via))

[RangerXML]

Re: NovaLogic Suing Activision, Turtle Beach, Microsoft, and BadyGAMES over Delta Force Logo

I love the fact that the Army insignia for what we have popularly termed "Delta Force" looks nothing like what NovaLogic and Infinity Ward use (don't know about what was used in the Chuck Norris film). I wonder if this was a set up by the former IW crew or something Sledgehammer brought with them when they took over.