‘Silly’ Putt-Putt sues Mojang over Minecraft user-generated content

Oh Putt-Putt, did the outcome of the Bethesda case against Mojang not teach you anything? Putt-Putt, the entity behind the chain of miniature golf courses, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Mojang over user-generated levels in Minecraft that allegedly infringe upon the "Putt-Putt" trademark.

And the Minecraft creator's response? "Putt-Putt being silly," Markus 'Notch' Persson said on Twitter, while posting an copy of the letter sent to the company.

"It has recently come to our attention that Mojang AB has been using, without authorization our famous Putt-Putt trademarks in connection with your business," the letter read. "We feel that Mojang AB's use of of the Putt-Putt name has benefited Mojang AB to the detriment of Putt-Putt."

The letter can be viewed in its entirety here, but the gist is that Putt-Putt wants Mojang to "refrain from all use of the Putt-Putt trademark in connection with your business." The cease-and-desist was sent along with the following image as "proof" of the infringement.

"I think there is clearly a misunderstanding here as to what Minecraft actually is," Mojang's lawyer, Alex Chapman, offered when asked by Eurogamer. "It's a game that, amongst other things, allows people to build things. Mojang doesn't control what users build and Mojang doesn't control the content of the videos users make. Suing Mojang for what people do using Minecraft is like suing Microsoft for what people do using Word."

Is Putt-Putt reaching here?