A court this week deniedowner Bethesda Softworks' bid for a temporary restraining order against Masthead, co-developer of the embattledMMO from Interplay.It's just the latest development in an ongoing legal battle that has Bethesda trying to regain full and complete control of theintellectual property.After acquiring theIP from Interplay in 2007, Bethesda licensed the rights to develop an MMO based onback to the company, under certain conditions, or else the agreement would be terminated.Then in 2009, Bethesda sued Interplay for allegedly failing to hold up its end of agreements regarding the company's development of theMMO, also known asBut within months a U.S. District Court judge had denied Bethesda's motion for a preliminary injunction against Interplay. Bethesda then filed another suit against Interplay anddeveloper Masthead Studios, noting that the company is developing aMMO, but under an agreement between the two companies, cannot use any assets from the establisheduniverse, such as characters, settings or storylines.Interplay later called Bethesda's interpretation of the agreement "absurd," noting that Bethesda never objected to the game as it allegedly knew what was intended by Interplay under the agreement.This week, U.S. District Judge, the Honorable John F. Walter, denied the temporary restraining order requested by Bethesda againstMMO co-developer Masthead, even before Masthead offered up an opposition to Bethesda's request for a temporary restraining order."[Bethesda] has not demonstrated that it will be irreparably prejudiced if the requested ex parterelief is not granted, or that it is without fault in creating the crisis that requires ex parte relief," he argued [via Milford & Associates ]."Indeed, [Bethesda] was aware as early as February 2011 that Masthead was potentially infringing itscopyrights... Yet, Plaintiff waited seven months to apply for ex parte relief."He concluded, "The Court finds that Plaintiff unreasonably delayed in seeking relief, and that the emergency that allegedly justifies a [temporary restraining order] is self-created."