Riot Games files lawsuit against CS:GO team for using 'Riot'

Cover Image Courtesy: Riot Squad Esports | Thumbnail Image Courtesy: Chris Yunker

Riot Games who are the developers of the famous MOBA title, League of Legends has just filed a lawsuit against a US-based esports organization that goes by the name of ‘Riot Squad’, over the use of the trademarked word ‘Riot’ across their brandings and promotions.

In the lawsuit, the Tencent owned company has made it clear that the usage of the word ‘Riot’ which is associated with its brand name, is the reason behind this lawsuit.

“Based on Riot’s lengthy, continuous, and uninterrupted use of its RIOT and RIOT GAMES marks, the RIOT brand has become synonymous with Riot, video games, and competitive esports leagues, teams, and competitions.”

Riot Games pleaded to a California court stating that, “Riot Squad has unfairly and unlawfully adopted and exploited the RIOT brand name in connection with its marketing, advertising, and promotion.”

While further accusing them of using their name as a measure to lure the public into believing that its, “esports organization is in some manner associated with, sponsored or endorsed by, or otherwise affiliated with Riot and its hugely popular products and services.”

Riot appealed that the court forbids ‘Riot Squad’ from using the word ‘Riot’, compensate them for the ‘damage done to its brand’ due to their unlawful conduct, and also guarantee the destruction of all products and materials that use the mark.

The Chicago based esports organization is still very young having been founded earlier this year in March 2019. The young organization has teams in various titles like CS:GO, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Rainbow 6 Siege, and PUBG, while having Kristin ‘Chibi’ Stein and Taylor ‘THump’ Humphries make up for their stream squad.

Notably, the organization does not have a League of Legends team, but this can be due to the fact that not a lot of LoL tournaments take place in the States due to them adopting the franchise league system.

The American organization has certainly grown as they stand with a moderate audience of around 8k Twitter followers while having plenty of teams playing various titles across the board. No official response has been given by Riot Squad till now, let’s see how the organization deals with this situation.

Source: Polygon