Even thought their day job is working on Riot Games' League of Legends title, ex-DotA All Stars developers Steve "Guinsoo" Feak and Steve "Pendragon" Mescon are apparently so concerned about Valve's recent trademark filing of "DOTA" that the duo have now decided to do some counter-trademarking. As reported by PC Gamer, the term "Defense of the Ancients" now has a US Trademark filing from "DotA All-Stars LLC" (a company owned by Mescom.

Even though Valve still hasn't even announced a "DOTA" game, much less its plans for it, Feak and Mescom feel that Valve's trademarking move hurts the spirit of DotA with Mescom saying he and Feak "had hoped that the DotA name would live on in perpetuity as a community project that is both free to play and free to modify and expand." He adds, "If we were to obtain the trademark, we would keep the game and the DotA name freely available to the mod community. That way the game can continue to be worked on and enjoyed by the independent community. We want to ensure that the DotA name remains in the hands of the community and that it is free for all to use."