Candy Crush Studio Drops "Candy" Trademark Application - Update

[Andy Chalk]

Candy Crush Studio Drops "Candy" Trademark Application - Update

Candy Crush Saga maker King has given up its effort to trademark the word "candy."

Update: King has confirmed in a statement that the trademark application withdrawal is legitimate, but noted that it only applies to the U.S. and that it will continue to pursue infringement of its trademarks.

"King has withdrawn its trademark application for 'Candy' in the U.S., which we applied for in February 2013 before we acquired the early rights to Candy Crusher," a spokesperson for King explained. "Each market that King operates in is different with regard to IP. We feel that having the rights to Candy Crusher is the best option for protecting Candy Crush in the U.S. market. This does not affect our E.U. trademark for Candy and we continue to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP."

Original Story:

After weeks of bad press and PR over its attempts to enforce a trademark on the word "candy," Candy Crush Saga maker King has walked away from the fight. A USPTO filing made yesterday states that the company "expressly abandons the application for trademark registration" of the word.

King filed a trademark application for "candy" in February 2013 and it was undercut the trademark claim [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131475-Candy-Crush-Saga-Studio-Trademarks-the-Word-Candy] of CandySwipe, a game that predated Candy Crush.

We've reached out to King for confirmation and comment and will update if and when we receive a response.

Source: USPTO [http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn85842584&docId=REA20140225091947#docIndex=1&page=1]


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[Reed Spacer]

Great, so Ransom's effectively been double-fucked.

King basically killed him and now they're kicking him in the nuts by saying 'Y'know what? Nah, we're not gonna do this.'

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Am I being overly cynical and suspicious if I think this story is not over yet? I don't know, it just feels like there is more, or going to be more.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

It's so weird to see an Internet Shitstorm actually work as intended. What's next, a movie to close off Firefly, or a cable network deciding to bring back Heroes!?

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

It's so weird to see an Internet Shitstorm actually work as intended. What's next, a movie to close off Firefly, or a cable network deciding to bring back Heroes!?

Please tell me that the firefly thing is happening,and you're being sarcastic, because Heroes is totally coming back you know.

 

[kuiper]

It's so weird to see an Internet Shitstorm actually work as intended. What's next, a movie to close off Firefly, or a cable network deciding to bring back Heroes!?

Please tell me that the firefly thing is happening,and you're being sarcastic, because Heroes is totally coming back you know.

they already did, it is called serenity

 

[Scarim Coral]

I guess you could say it was too "sweet" for them to handle. Well ok that didn't make sense at all, I will take my leave...

 

[Reed Spacer]

It's so weird to see an Internet Shitstorm actually work as intended. What's next, a movie to close off Firefly, or a cable network deciding to bring back Heroes!?

Please tell me that the firefly thing is happening,and you're being sarcastic, because Heroes is totally coming back you know.

He's being sarcastic; there was a Firefly movie...

 

[CriticalMiss]

It's so weird to see an Internet Shitstorm actually work as intended. What's next, a movie to close off Firefly, or a cable network deciding to bring back Heroes!?

Please tell me that the firefly thing is happening,and you're being sarcastic, because Heroes is totally coming back you know.

Who knows...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/?ref_=nv_sr_1

It's good that they've given up their silly campaign against all that is candy, but do they still claim ownership of 'Saga'? We have to remember that they didn't do it out of the good of their hearts though, it's because they've probably seen a noticeable drop in revenue and had a crap load of bad PR.

 

[rofltehcat]

I hope the whole legal stuff connected to this cost them a ton of money. Too bad their trademark BS is also costing other developers time and money.

 

[NiPah]

So I guess the lawyer fees were getting too costly? Other then shutting down a few no-name competitors this whole escapade hasn't netted them a lot of money.

But thanks to their antics I hate their company, guess that was one thing that came out of all this.

 

[Ratty]

Darn. And I was just about to put in my applications to trademark "the" and "of" to!

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

It's so weird to see an Internet Shitstorm actually work as intended. What's next, a movie to close off Firefly, or a cable network deciding to bring back Heroes!?

Please tell me that the firefly thing is happening,and you're being sarcastic, because Heroes is totally coming back you know.

they already did, it is called serenity

It's so weird to see an Internet Shitstorm actually work as intended. What's next, a movie to close off Firefly, or a cable network deciding to bring back Heroes!?

Please tell me that the firefly thing is happening,and you're being sarcastic, because Heroes is totally coming back you know.

He's being sarcastic; there was a Firefly movie...

It's so weird to see an Internet Shitstorm actually work as intended. What's next, a movie to close off Firefly, or a cable network deciding to bring back Heroes!?

Please tell me that the firefly thing is happening,and you're being sarcastic, because Heroes is totally coming back you know.

Who knows...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/?ref_=nv_sr_1

It's good that they've given up their silly campaign against all that is candy, but do they still claim ownership of 'Saga'? We have to remember that they didn't do it out of the good of their hearts though, it's because they've probably seen a noticeable drop in revenue and had a crap load of bad PR.

You know I realized that almost immediately after typing it. For some reason the synapses upstairs misfired at the joke referencing an 8 year old movie and I thought he was hinting at the making of ANOTHER Firefly movie.

 

[FalloutJack]

Looks like it was...


*Puts on sunglasses*

...a little TO sweet.


Haven't we learned from Mr. Edge that trying to claim ownership of a WORD is just plain stupid?

 

[Clovus]

It's so weird to see an Internet Shitstorm actually work as intended. What's next, a movie to close off Firefly, or a cable network deciding to bring back Heroes!?

Or the US Trademark system worked. Today was the first day that objections to the trademark of "Candy" could start to be filed. I think King had a pretty clear idea that the trademark was doomed. It would be interesting to find out why their lawyers ever thought they could get that mark. I don't think the internet had much to do with it, really. If a company has a legitimate trademark, I can't see them backing down on protecting it because someone on the internet is mad.

Darn. And I was just about to put in my applications to trademark "the" and "of" to!

You can file that if you want and probably no one will care. You don't operate a business using "the" and "of" as the brand do you? Are you planning on defending that in court? If not, the registration won't even matter. You don't "own" a word if the USPTO lists your trademark.

Now let's laugh in his filthy, hack scumbag face until he drops the "saga" part as well!

It's basically already "dropped". It was already suspened by the USPTO. I don't know if there will be any other action by King, but they probably aren't going to pursue it further. I think that part of the story is dead. It seems like these stories pop up, but the resolution never appears. Like the case with CandySwipe. I think the two sides probably just sign NDAs and that's it.

Anyway, King is pretty horrible, but the US Trademark system seems to be working properly. I have no idea what is going on over in Europe though.

 

[Frezzato]

Frankly, I'm glad King tried to trademark the word 'candy'. I'm hoping these idiotic actions will bleed the company dry. Keep 'em coming, King!

I found Candy Crush lacking (deleted it after three days), and prefer Jewel Mania, partly because it's not owned by assholes. Of course, things can change at the drop of a hat, but I'll take things as they are for now.

 

[CruxisCalling]

"This does not affect our E.U. trademark for Candy and we continue to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP."

"appropriate steps". At what point has King EVER taken appropriate steps during any part of this whole mess? The fact alone that those words are used confirms for me that, even without the candy trademark, their horrible behavior is going to remain the same. What King has been doing, in their eyes, is correct and justifiable. One act of backing down after an extreme amount of bad PR is not evidence that the actual practice of going after smaller companies is going to change.

How about an act of good will toward the people you've already forced out of business? Remember them, King?

 

[EndlessSporadic]

Withdrawal is not an option, King. We are smarter than that. The internet will hate you forever, and you deserve all of the hate you get.