Candy Crush Saga Dev Attempts to Block Banner Saga Trademark

[Clovus]

As per usual with IP law, this thread is filled with incorrect information. King is not currently suing the makers of The Banner Saga. They're just objecting the the trademark.

This is not an example of a bad trademark system. King does not currently have a trademark on "candy" or "saga". Their request for a trademark on "Candy" has made it through the first hoop, but it will be challenged and probably not go through. Their trademark for "saga" has already been suspended.

King is not being a troll here either. They actually have a real product that makes money that is being infringed on by companies making obvious clones or copying the name. It is not really surprising that they would object to the trademark of "Banner Saga", since that trademark could then possibly be used against them. Not having "Banner Saga" trademarked will not force that game to have its name changed or anything. Now, if King does get a mark on "Saga" they could then try to force a name change.

King's lawyers are definitely going overboard even trying to get marks on "Candy" and "Saga" though. I think the system will work though (ie, the marks will eventually fail).

 

[Yakostovian]

Dear King.com.

You do not own words you did not make up, including, but not limited to: Candy, Crush, & Saga. If someone combines two of those words in a single game title, you might have a case, but until then, kindly leave the actual game developers alone.

Sincerely,
A gamer

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

Well if there was remaining doubt that these people are utter and complete assholes who deserve my money about as much as mother Teresa deserved a shovel to the face they've conveniently removed that!

If don't think this will go through but it's still full of shit.

 

[Alarien]

As per usual with IP law, this thread is filled with incorrect information. King is not currently suing the makers of The Banner Saga. They're just objecting the the trademark.

This is not an example of a bad trademark system. King does not currently have a trademark on "candy" or "saga". Their request for a trademark on "Candy" has made it through the first hoop, but it will be challenged and probably not go through. Their trademark for "saga" has already been suspended.

King is not being a troll here either. They actually have a real product that makes money that is being infringed on by companies making obvious clones or copying the name. It is not really surprising that they would object to the trademark of "Banner Saga", since that trademark could then possibly be used against them. Not having "Banner Saga" trademarked will not force that game to have its name changed or anything. Now, if King does get a mark on "Saga" they could then try to force a name change.

King's lawyers are definitely going overboard even trying to get marks on "Candy" and "Saga" though. I think the system will work though (ie, the marks will eventually fail).

I think most of the people here understand the specifics of the rules as they stand right now. Explaining the details to everyone does not exonerate King for, as you clearly state "going overboard" and does not take away the fact that if their marks do go through, then they have the basis for continued legal harassment of The Banner Saga.

What you've done is clearly explain why a system is broken, however. King is trolling and, even if you can argue that they aren't trolling based on precedent issues, the fact that the system would possibly allow this, or even demand it be done, is absurd, on it's face.

 

[Clovus]

I think most of the people here understand the specifics of the rules as they stand right now.

Really? Every time this subject comes up you see jokes about "copywriting the word 'the' or 'game'". I think IP law is pretty confusing. Most people don't know (or, for good reason, care) what the differences are between copyright, patent, and trademark laws.

Explaining the details to everyone does not exonerate King for, as you clearly state "going overboard" and does not take away the fact that if their marks do go through, then they have the basis for continued legal harassment of The Banner Saga.

I don't want to "exonerate" them. I think they are going well beyond what is necesary in the situation. Whether or not someone actually has the legal basis to do something is an important part of a story.

What you've done is clearly explain why a system is broken, however.

What, how? The office handling trademarks cannot be filled with experts on every single issue. They can only give a general ruling and then allow for outside comment to make a final decision. They apparently have already figured out that "saga" is no good. The ruling on "candy" is now open for opposition. Other companies who have an interest in protecting their marks will respond if "candy" is a problem and the mark will fail. How else do you want the system to work?

King is trolling and, even if you can argue that they aren't trolling based on precedent issues, the fact that the system would possibly allow this, or even demand it be done, is absurd, on it's face.

I don't understand what you think is happening here. King is not stopping Stoic from calling their game The Banner Sage. You do not, and in fact cannot, trademark all game/movie/book titles. Stoic does have an interest in doing so, because they want a sequal. Once there are multiple titles, the name can become a brand. Regardless, they can still call the next game "The Banner Saga 2" or whatever.

Why is it a problem that a company can object to another company's trademark request? Isn't that a good idea? Or do you really want a government worker making the final decision with no outside opinion?

I'm not saying the trademark system is perfect. Over time certain issues arise and government rules are slow to be updated. But it is absolutely not broken. You have to maintain a trademark - it's not like copyright where it lasts basically forever without any payments. The rules for requesting, being granted, and protecting a mark largely make sense. I'm not sure what system you would want in its place. There is some room for abuse, especially when one side has a lot more money, but that's a problem with pretty much every single aspect of law. That problem is not nearly as bad in trademark law as it is in many other areas, especially copyright and patents. The problem with trademark is that people do not understand it, and get made when some local charity or whatever has to change its name.

As for "trolling", that's a semantic issue. "Trolling" is not simply "they are doing something I don't like and it involves IP law". But, I don't think you really care about the semantics.

Anyway, I think we can both agree that King are dicks for various reasons ...

 

[rofltehcat]

The thing is: If they successfully block the Banner Saga TM that way, people will basically be able to freely publish their own Banner Saga games (or clones/games just trying to profit off Banner Saga's success). Banner Saga seems to be very successful right now (and I love it). Someone making a cheap clone or a mobile-adapted version (its interface seems to be intended to work on touch screens as well) is thus more likely.
So they are basically saying "screw you, we're dealing with infringement and so will you!"

Of course it is their right to object to other companies' TM requests but this is one of the cases where they shouldn't even feel obligated to do so.

 

[Hafnium]

Well if there was remaining doubt that these people are utter and complete assholes who deserve my money about as much as mother Teresa deserved a shovel to the face they've conveniently removed that!

If don't think this will go through but it's still full of shit.

She probably did deserve a shovel to the face, but I see your point.

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

Well if there was remaining doubt that these people are utter and complete assholes who deserve my money about as much as mother Teresa deserved a shovel to the face they've conveniently removed that!

If don't think this will go through but it's still full of shit.

She probably did deserve a shovel to the face, but I see your point.

I know that actually, she's just the societal reference for "good person"

 

[Hafnium]

Well if there was remaining doubt that these people are utter and complete assholes who deserve my money about as much as mother Teresa deserved a shovel to the face they've conveniently removed that!

If don't think this will go through but it's still full of shit.

She probably did deserve a shovel to the face, but I see your point.

I know that actually, she's just the societal reference for "good person"

That's true.
On topic - I sincerely hope King and their sort of "game makers" get shot down every time and hard, and are forced to pay attourney fees. It's been said, but this system is flawed and being exploited. Soon every developer, including the small and vulnerable studios, might risk substantial losses to what are basically scammers.

 

[Dumoras]

This Loki's doing.

 

[inkheart_artist]

No one remembers the whole 'Edge' debacle? This is bad, but nowhere near as bad as that for the sheer fact that Edge successfully made it a nightmare to publish a game with the word edge in it for years until they poked a sleeping giant of EA and still managed to be a pain in everyone's ass for another year or two. Worst of all was that the company hadn't made a game in, like, 15 years before the whole thing was over.

 

[Amir Kondori]

King software disgusts me and I can't wait for them to go out of business.

 

[otakon17]

This is the biggest load of bullshit I've seen in a LONG time. Only the most simple and naive could get a PC ONLY TITLE The Banner Saga confused with a MOBILE/FACEBOOK GAME Candy Crush Saga. There is no Goddamn way it could happen any other way, and this is just ridiculous. King, stop making an ass of yourself dammit.