No More Candy

[Deozaan]

I'm probably breaking the law in making this post, since candy^tm is now trademarked.

While the joys of Candy Crush Saga have only reached the PC in the form of a Facebook app, the implications of one of the worst decisions by the US trademark office affect developers on all platforms. They have, as of last week, decided it’s perfectly reasonable for owners King to trademark the word "candy". And they’re trying to get “saga” too.

So it is that Gamezebo reports developers are now receiving threats that they must remove their apps or games if they have had the temerity to use this oh-so rare word in their product name. It’s the "edge" fiasco all over again, except this time with actual legal muscle behind it.

What to do?

Candy Jam
Ooops sorry, 'Sweet Jam'
Fight trademark trolling - make a game.

Why?
Because trademarking common names is ridiculous and because it gives us an occasion to make another gamejam :d

Rules:
Make a game involving candies.
Consider using the word "candy" several times, also "scroll", "memory", "saga" and "apple" might give bonus points.

Deadline:
3rd of February

[Renegade]

Is the system broken? Nope. It's fixed.

[Vurbal]

Is the system broken? Nope. It's fixed.

Not for all values of "fixed."

FTFY

[Deozaan]

They've also trademarked (or are trying to trademark) the word "Saga" so they're shutting down anyone who uses "saga" in their title:

If you’ve been following King’s trademark sideshow this week (and we know you have), there have been two interesting developments in the last 24 hours that you already know about. Last night, word broke that King was trying to use its IP law muscle to prevent Stoic Studio from using the word SAGA in The Banner Saga. And then this morning, King issued a statement responding to these allegations.

This is where things get a little weird, because their response was basically “we’re not trying to stop them from using the name, we’ve just filed a formal opposition with the US Trademark Office that says otherwise.” More to the point, they said that if they don’t exercise their claim in every instance than the mark on words like SAGA will lose its potency, and they’ll have a hard time when it comes to fighting the real targets of their IP theft.

It’s an argument that’s in complete contradiction with a statement they released earlier in the day. “We don’t enforce against all uses… some are legitimate of course, we would not ask App developers who use the term legitimately to stop doing so.”

Definition of Saga: A long story of heroic achievement, esp. a medieval prose narrative in Old Norse or Old Icelandic.

The Banner Saga is a game about Vikings. It uses the word correctly.

Candy Crush Saga, or Pet Rescue Saga, or any other game made by King.com does not use the word correctly.

[lanux128]

looks like a repeat of this issue.

[Deozaan]

An actual lawyer who (as I understand) works primarily for Indie game devs for a living, Mona Ibrahim, comments on the whole situation:

This seems to happen a lot in my industry, the game space. And while I love you all these knee-jerk witch hunts are a bit tiresome. So to get to the meat of the problem: Candy Crush Saga is still a fully operational, commercially successful game, and King, as its lawful publisher/developer, has a vested interest in protecting its IP portfolio to the extent required to prohibit infringement.

Likewise, The Banner Saga is a beautifully rendered and well-designed product that likewise has an interest in protecting its IP. In other words, I do not think there is a “bad guy” here. We simply have two players in the IP landscape. Being on “Team Candy” or “Team Banner” does not make you any more or any less “legit” from a legal perspective.

With that being said, we have an instinctive desire to protect “legitimate”, “independent”, and “serious” games over the “casual” game publishers in the market. This is all well and good if that’s what you want to champion, but the law doesn’t play favorites for the sake of your preferences. Nor should it.

Read the rest on Candy Crush/Banner Saga: My Brief Two Cents.

She even started a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything):

The Great "TM" Saga: AMA

Hi everyone!

A few folks on twitter pinged me regarding the Candy Crush Saga/Banner Saga TM issue, and as I can't actually answer most questions people have there due to response length constraints, I thought I'd open up a discussion here where people can ask what they want and I'll answer what I can. As a point of reference I'm a video game attorney based in Seattle. I represent both established and not-so-established game developers and publishers. I also represent a number of composers, artists, and individuals who bring their own unique skill sets to the game space. Incidentally, I also managed the TM practice at my old firm, so this is a bit of an old hat for me.

Ask whatever you'd like and I'll do my best to give you as much information as possible without flying too far into hypothetical land!