Interplay responds to Bethesda's 'absurd' claim that its Fallout MMO can't involve Fallout

Back in 2007, Bethesda purchased the rights to the Fallout series under the condition that its original publisher, Interဣplay, receive a license to use the brand for an upcoming MMO (with certain stipulationꦓs). The deal didn't go entirely smoothly, but Interplay moved forward with the development of Fallout Online, and things were looking good for a while - at least, everyone seemed happy... HAPPY TO HIRE MORE LAWYERS, THAT IS!

According to Bღethesda, it only gave Interplay a license to "one single asset" of Fallout - the Fallout trademark. It did not, however, give Interplay permission to use any other assets from the brand, such as settings or characters. Interplay recently filed its response, which, roughly paraphrased, says that Bethesda's assertion is completely stupid in every way, and Bethesda is stupid for thi💙nking it, and that they must be drinking "stupid coffee" every morning because that's the only way to explain how they got so stupid (I made most of that up, but it's the general tone).

"Bethesda's interpretation requires Interplay to develop and release an MMOG under the Fallout name, but unrelated𝐆 to the Fallout brand," read Interplay's response to Bethesda, which was .