Activision is trying to combat a patent for a dog poo removal service named ‘Call of Doodee,’ with the game publisher trying to prevent the family-run business from using the name.
Activision believes that the company’s name infringes upon their intellectual property, the Call of Duty series, and has successfully pursued an extension to oppose the patent. The Call of Doodee Weebly website calls the poo removal company “# 1 in the # 2 business,” with the married couple behind it operating out of Murrieta, California.
Offering to clean dog waste for an entire month for $30, the family company has been met with opposition from Activision, a Fortune 500 company with an $18.9 billion net worth. The publisher has now filed their extension until the end of next year, with the initial deadline having been this November.
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Call of Doodee doesn’t use any Activision assets or references to the Call of Duty franchise on its website, nor does its company name appear to be a play on the game series’ title. However, with Activision owning 23 trademarks pertaining to Call of Duty, it seems the publisher will use its resources to railroad Call of Doodee into opting for a different name for their company.
Call of Doodee is currently still in operation, with its website offering 10% discounts to active members of the military, senior citizens and pet foster families. Earlier this month, Activision announced that Call of Duty: WW2 had the best digital launch sales of any game in PS4 history, with it amassing just under $550 million in sales.
(H/T PCGamesN)