Candy Crush Saga dev trademarks the word 'candy'

King, developer and publisher of Candy Crush Saga, has managed to trademark the word "candy" when pertaining to video games. Ever since King got...

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King, developer and publisher of Candy Crush Saga, has managed to trademark the word "candy" when pertaining to video games. Ever since King got its hands on the commonly-used word, it has sent notices to Apple regarding multiple games that use the word "candy" in their title.

The Candy Crush dev argues that games that use Candy in their title can increase "the likelihood of confusion" in games like All Candy Casino Slots. However, developer Benny Hsu says that the claim is "ridiculous."

VentureBeat asked Martin Schwimmer of The Trademark Blog about how such a term could be trademarked. It's all about how strong a connection is to a service. "Think of Apple, for example. Nobody is going to expect the electronics giant to lay claim over the fruit, but if someone were to try to market an electronic device under that name, you’d better believe their lawyers would swoop in," the site explained. Arguably, Candy Crush Saga is so ubiquitous, that King can own the term "candy" when it pertains to games.

Of course, with a game as popular as Candy Crush Saga, it's likely that there are legitimate copycats trying to capitalize on the success of King's game. However, there will likely be other games caught in the crossfire. The best course of action for affected devs is to fight back in court. However, that's not a realistic option for many. Hsu plans on changing the name because "myself and other indie developers don't have the money or resources to fight back."

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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  • reply
    January 20, 2014 2:45 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Candy Crush Saga dev trademarks the word 'candy'.

    King, developer and publisher of Candy Crush Saga, has managed to trademark the word "candy" when pertaining to video games. Ever since King got...

    • reply
      January 20, 2014 2:54 PM

      Good luck with that.

    • reply
      January 20, 2014 2:56 PM

      wtf

    • reply
      January 20, 2014 2:58 PM

      [deleted]

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      January 20, 2014 3:01 PM

      How can this be allowed?

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        January 20, 2014 3:13 PM

        It probably won't be. In any case the odds are stacked against them as this feels like Edge 2.0.

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      January 20, 2014 3:03 PM

      well there goes my cocaine based MMO

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      January 20, 2014 3:09 PM

      [deleted]

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      January 20, 2014 3:17 PM

      Be right back, trademarking War. War, war never changes!

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      January 20, 2014 3:21 PM

      king.com why are you dumb

      I understand they want to go after candy crush clones.....but this is not the right method

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      January 20, 2014 3:27 PM

      This reminds me of that Edge game and that stupid developer

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      January 20, 2014 4:34 PM

      They can go fuck themselves. Trademark cunts are such a goddamn bane.

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      January 20, 2014 7:34 PM

      apparently they've sent a C&D to the banner saga dudes:

      https://twitter.com/georgeb3dr/status/425470252613238784

      it's gb3dr so take it with a grain of salt, but he's usually pretty accurate about his insider stuff.

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      January 20, 2014 7:49 PM

      He's gone Turbo on the game industry.

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      January 20, 2014 8:08 PM

      Who decided someone can trademark one word? I sincerely hope someone beats them in court. I can see "Candy Crush" being trademarked, but candy? Patent and trademark reform is in order.

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        January 20, 2014 8:12 PM

        Not to mention a word that has been used several times in previous titles before they even applied for a trademark. Usually your not suppose to be able to trademark something that already been in use.

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        January 21, 2014 7:14 AM

        What about Apple then?

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          January 21, 2014 7:17 AM

          Apple's is a bit more narrowly defined to computers and computer peripherals. In the instance above candy is being applied to just about everything.

          The description provided to the USPTO for CANDY is Apparatus for recording, transmission or reproduction of sound or images; Blank magnetic data carriers and recording discs; Blank magnetic disks, pre-recorded magnetic disks featuring computer games; Compact discs, DVDs and video recordings featuring computer games; Calculating machines, Data processing equipment, namely, couplers, Computers; Computer game software for video and computer games; Video disks and video tapes with recorded animated cartoons; Audiovisual teaching apparatus, namely, slide or photograph projection apparatus; Camcorders; Cameras; Cassette players; Compact disc players; Compact discs featuring video and computer games; Computer game programs; Computer keyboards; Computer memory hardware; Computer operating programs, recorded; Computer peripheral devices; Computer programmes, recorded for video games; Computer programs for video games; Computer software, recorded for video games; Downloadable image files containing photographic images and artwork, text, and games; Downloadable music files; Downloadable ring tones for mobile phones; DVD players; Downloadable electronic publications in the nature of e-books, online magazines, online newspapers, electronic journals, blogs, podcasts and mobile game applications in the field of computer and video games; Exposed photographic film; Headphones; Juke boxes, musical; Laptop computers; Microphones; Baby monitors; Battery performance monitors; Computer monitors; Mouse pads; Notebook computers; Blank optical discs; Optical discs featuring computer and video games; Personal stereos; Portable media players; Portable telephones; Record players; Sound recording apparatus; Sound reproduction apparatus; Sound transmitting apparatus; Spectacle cases; Spectacle frames; Sunglasses; Tape-recorders; Teaching apparatus, namely, electronic teaching equipment in the nature of computers, multimedia projectors, computer whiteboards; Telephone apparatus; Television apparatus for projection purposes; Blank USB flash drives; Blank video cassettes; Prerecorded video cassettes featuring computer games; Video game cartridges; Video recorders; Cases for mobile phones, tablets and other electronic mobile devices, excluding video game devices; Computer games software; Computer game entertainment software; Downloadable electronic game software for use on mobile phones, tablets and other electronic mobile devices; Video game software; Interactive multimedia computer game programs; Games software for use on mobile phones, tablets and other electronic mobile devices; Downloadable computer software for mobile phones, tablets and other electronic mobile devices in the field of social media; Downloadable software in the nature of a mobile application for use in the field of social media; Apps featuring computer games, namely, computer game software.

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        January 21, 2014 7:56 AM

        LucasArts trademarked the word 'Nazi' back in the early days of pen'n'paper rpgs.

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      January 20, 2014 8:17 PM

      [deleted]

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      January 20, 2014 9:00 PM

      Just read this, I'm familiar with the process as I've filed a few game related trademarks myself. It's approved for publication which is essentially a thirty day window where anyone with a claim can dispute the mark being fully approved. It's almost impossible for someone within the classes they are claiming candy to not step forward and dispute the validity of the mark since the word candy is already used a lot.

      It really comes down to money vs money as they try to prove their claim is valid to a judge with a team of lawyers versus anyone who disputes it's validity during this window. If no one fights it, it will be a real trademark they can enforce in the classes they registered at the end of the thirty day period. If someone disputes it (likely), it's not enforceable until all claims are settled (although I believe they can enforce the mark back to the original filing date if they somehow manage to get it through the publication period to full registration).

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      January 20, 2014 9:13 PM

      [deleted]

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        January 20, 2014 11:10 PM

        my game Candy Squash Story is completely unique!

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        January 21, 2014 8:43 AM

        then money will win in their favor, regardless. They have hundreds of millions they can waste in courts against a small indie dev ala Banner Saga.

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      January 20, 2014 10:30 PM

      If Candy is unenforcable, do you think Turismo could be? X Souls? x of duty?

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      January 20, 2014 11:05 PM

      I'm quite a fan of cookie clicker, not so much sushi clicker or zombie clicker, etc.

    • reply
      January 21, 2014 3:26 AM

      [deleted]

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      January 21, 2014 3:30 AM

      Seriously that's fucking ridiculous.

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      January 21, 2014 5:51 AM

      [deleted]

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      January 21, 2014 6:47 AM

      [deleted]

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      January 21, 2014 7:26 AM

      That Candy Box guy is screwed. :(

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      January 21, 2014 7:31 AM

      They should get the fuck sued out of them by cut the rope, the ORIGINAL candy game for mobile platforms

    • reply
      January 21, 2014 8:09 AM

      Strippers being sued everywhere

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      January 21, 2014 8:46 AM

      Yeah, Charlie!

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      January 21, 2014 9:09 AM

      This sounds a lot like the same stunt Facebook pulled trying to trademark "Book".

      http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/03/facebook-asserts-trademark-on-word-book-in-new-user-agreement/

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