According to The Daily Beast, Iron Maiden has filed a $2 million trademark infringement lawsuit against a video game developer behind the game called “Ion Maiden.” The Daily Beast has reported the lawsuit reads, 3D Realms, the company who are also behind games such as Duke Nukem 3D are using an “incredibly blatant” trademark infringement, which could lead to “confusion among customers.”
The lawsuit also addressed:
“Defendant’s Ion Maiden name is nearly identical to the Iron Maiden trademark in appearance, sound and overall commercial impression. Defendant also uses the Ion Maiden name to sell merchandise including shirts and mouse pads.”
The suit continued to showcase on Ion Maiden’s “virtually identical imitation,” to the band’s trademark, in addition to the $2 million, the suit demands the company to stop using the products similar to the band’s trademark as well as relinquishing their ownership to the game’s website, ionmaiden.com.
3D Realms has issued the following statement in response to the lawsuit:
“We’ve recently heard about a lawsuit filed in California by the band Iron Maiden, claiming our old-school first-person shooter Ion Maiden is infringing on their trademark.
From what we’ve heard, the suit claims our main character, Shelly Harrison, originally debuting in 2016’s Bombshell, is based on their musician Steve Harris; our skull bomb icon found in-game is based on their skeleton mascot Eddie; our logo in itself is based on theirs; and other frivolous claims anyone who has played Ion Maiden would find more over the top than Shelly’s “Loverboy”, her signature 18-round triple-barreled revolver.
We at 3D Realms, our co-publishers 1C Entertainment, and developer Voidpoint will review our options once we receive official notice of the lawsuit and will make any necessary decisions at the appropriate time.
Regardless, everyone continues to work diligently on Ion Maiden to deliver the best possible experience later this year.”
