Since Valve Software only filed for a trademark on "DotA", Riot Games has in turn filed for a trademark on "Defense of the Ancients". The filing by Riot came just three days after Valve's own trademark was filed, according to an interview with PC Gamer.

Steve "Pendragon" Mescon told PC Gamer that "the idea that one single company is taking control of the name of something that hundreds of people have contributed to is surprising," echoing earlier statements. "I believe DotA should always remain a community-owned product that modders, independent developers and game fans can continue to modify and play as often as they'd like."

The counter-filing and Riot's statements seem to be coming from some assumption that Valve is planning on releasing either a paid or non-modifiable product under the "DotA" name. No product has been officially announced by Valve at this time.

For the moment, Mescon is giving Valve "the benefit of the doubt because of their history," but remains concerned by "a single organization taking ownership of the name, the community at large would no longer be able to contribute to DotA like they have for years."

For more with Mescon, head on over to the full interview at PC Gamer.

This week is maybe the biggest of the year in the world of entertainment. This is when all of the games you'll be playing for the next 12 months are unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. This year's event, however, will more likely be remembered as the precise moment video gaming as we know it died a tragic and embarrassing death.

Blizzard isn't in the habit of handing out game release dates until they're good and ready, so when they say StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will be hitting store shelves worldwide in late July, they damn well mean it.

StarCraft II is possibly the most eagerly anticipated real-time strategy game in the history of the genre, and now that anticipation has a white-hot target - July 27, 2010. That's when the game will start hitting retail stores around the world, including the United States, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Mexico, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Is that a wide enough release for you?

"We've been looking forward to revisiting the StarCraft universe for many years, and we're excited that the time for that is almost here," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Thanks to our beta testers, we're making great progress on the final stages of development, and we'll be ready to welcome players all over the world to StarCraft II and the new Battle.net in just a few months."

You might want to start lining up outside your nearest retailer now.