It's important to note Notch not only offered dropping the trademarking of "Scrolls", he also offered adding a subtitle or new words to the game title to not make it just "Scrolls" (on top of the non-trademarking stuff).
Bethesda/Zenimax essentially sues to prevent Mojang from using the word "Scrolls" at all, in a game which is all about, well, scrolls.
Notch and company showed weakness by immediately offering concessions, so Bethesda probably figures if they push harder they will drop Scrolls entirely. Which is probably true.
I'm just surprised there's no PR group talking with legal. This is a nightmare for Bethesda as Minecraft (and by extension Notch) has an extremely loyal and, dare I say, vocal following.
Win or lose Bethesda comes out looking like a evil group and probably will leave a sour taste in a few thousand gamer's mouths once it is all said and done.
Why would anyone want to make such a compromise, build a brand, make money, and then risk a lawsuit that will lead to a massive settlement. alternatives: "Scrollings", "Scrollables" etc...
I think the point is that scrolls is a generic term describing an artefact commonly found in adventure games and so should not be seen as bearing the distinctiveness needed of a trademark to indicate the origin of goods/services in the field of computer games.
Bethesda/Zenimax essentially sues to prevent Mojang from using the word "Scrolls" at all, in a game which is all about, well, scrolls.