IGDA makes opposition statement to King's 'Candy' trademarks
The International Game Developers Association has issued a statement opposing King's recent Candy Crush Saga trademark filing, criticizing the developer's "predatory" attempt at owning and controlling the words "candy" and "saga" across all gaming platforms.
The organization plans to leverage its Business and Legal Special Interest Group to investigate the filing. King's "candy" trademark was recently approvedfor publishing by the US Patent and Trademark Office, giving developers and organizations 30 days to oppose the mark's final publication.
"While we understand and respect the appropriate exercise of Trademark rights," IGDA executive director Kate Edwards said. "King's overreaching filing in its application for the Trademark for its game 'Candy Crush Saga,' and its predatory efforts to apply that mark to each separate word contained in that name, are in opposition to the values of openness and cooperation we support industry wide, and directly contradict the statement King's CEO, Riccardo Zacconi, made on January 27th."
Edwards continued: "Our Business and Legal Special Interest Group will be providing a more comprehensive analysis of this issue from its perspective soon."
King targeted indie developer Stoic Studio last year, claiming that its title The Banner Saga was "confusingly and deceptively similar to [King's] previously used Saga marks." King relented in the following months, stating that it "has not and is not trying to stop Banner Saga from using its name."
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/18/ig...dy-trademarks/
