Cut the Rope Studio Files Against King's "Candy" Trademark In Europe

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Cut the Rope Studio Files Against King's "Candy" Trademark In Europe


It's been a rough couple of days for Candy Crush studio King, as its IPO stumbles and its "candy" trademark faces new opposition in Europe.

After weeks of backlash and bad press, Candy Crush Saga studio King undercut [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132480-Candy-Crush-Studio-Drops-Candy-Trademark-Application-Update] a countering trademark claim by the maker of CandySwipe, provided adequate protection for its IP rights in North America. In Europe, however, the trademark claim remained, a point King specifically emphasized in its confirmation of the trademark application withdrawal in the U.S.

But now it's facing trouble on that front too, as ZeptoLab, the developer of the Cut the Rope franchise, has filed to cancel the registration of the "candy" trademark in the European Union. ZeptoLab said in a press release that King is using the European registration, covering video games, video game services and clothing, as a basis to file trademark claims in other regions.

"Although they withdrew their trademark application for 'candy' in the United States in February, registration in the EU remains active," the statement says. "If ZeptoLab's legal filing is successful, all applications for the registration of 'candy' based upon the European Union registration will be dissolved."

"Candy is an integral part of the Cut the Rope franchise," ZeptoLab CEO Misha Lyalin said, "and we do not support King.com trademarking and preventing others from using it."

In other bad news for King, its IPO didn't go as well as the company had hoped either. It launched at $22.50 per share, square in the middle of the expected range of $21 to $24, but opened well below that mark in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange at just $20.50 and slowly dribbled down to a close of $19 [http://finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=KING], a loss of more than 15.5 percent over the course of the day.

Sources: Yahoo! Finance [http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/zeptolab-files-objection-eu-against-120000707.html]

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CriticalMiss

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Jan 18, 2013
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"Candy is an integral part of the Cut the Rope franchise,"
Is it? I only briefly played the game for a few minutes months ago so I don't really remember it well but I don't remember any candy. And if candy is integral would it be enough to get King's trademark dissolved?

Also:

In other bad news for King, its IPO didn't go as well as the company had hoped either. It launched at $22.50 per share, square in the middle of the expected range of $21 to $24, but opened well below that mark in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange at just $20.50 and slowly dribbled down to a close of $19, a loss of more than 15.5 percent over the course of the day.
It really is looking like a repeat of Zynga, only quicker it would seem.
 

Neta

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Aug 22, 2013
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Boo-candy-hoo.

My heart bleeds syrup for King's plight at having their "copyright-trolling" attempts chewed up, blown into a bubble, and spat out.
 

COMaestro

Vae Victis!
May 24, 2010
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I'm hoping their shares continue to drop. If they hadn't been such a-holes about everything, I wouldn't wish them ill, but...
 

Baresark

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Dec 19, 2010
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While the IPO thing is interesting, it sounds like the author does not completely understand the general habits of an IPO. Very few companies don't see the IPO flounder in the first week. The fact is, IPO's are always estimated well above the actual value of the stock. Most of them see a "substantial" drop in price before the price stabilizes. But, I digress. Part of me thinks this is karmic in nature, but that is the part of me that likes to see a company like this hurt. It's only news because of their previous attempts to control elements of their IP which are essentially uncontrollable.
 

Yoshi4102

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Mar 10, 2012
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CriticalMiss said:
"Candy is an integral part of the Cut the Rope franchise,"
Is it? I only briefly played the game for a few minutes months ago so I don't really remember it well but I don't remember any candy. And if candy is integral would it be enough to get King's trademark dissolved?
Well the purpose of the game is to feed the little monster pieces of candy that are attached to a rope, so it's pretty integral to the theme of the game. As to whether it can dissolve the trademark? Who knows?
 

martyrdrebel27

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Feb 16, 2009
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i want the shares to drop to less than a buck, then start a kickstarter to purchase a majority share of the company and close it down for good. there would be no benefit for backers other than the knowledge that you helped make the world a better place.
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
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martyrdrebel27 said:
i want the shares to drop to less than a buck, then start a kickstarter to purchase a majority share of the company and close it down for good. there would be no benefit for backers other than the knowledge that you helped make the world a better place.
But thats just mob justice. Short lived and not satisfying at all.

No... we want the same sort of shit to happen to King as what happened to Zynga. Where the scum in charge dumped the stock and ran off with the cash, leaving the company to tailspin and fall under the control of a former Microsoft executive.

Only then, can we know that things cant get any worse for King.
 

Braedan

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Sep 14, 2010
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gigastar said:
martyrdrebel27 said:
i want the shares to drop to less than a buck, then start a kickstarter to purchase a majority share of the company and close it down for good. there would be no benefit for backers other than the knowledge that you helped make the world a better place.
But thats just mob justice. Short lived and not satisfying at all.

No... we want the same sort of shit to happen to King as what happened to Zynga. Where the scum in charge dumped the stock and ran off with the cash, leaving the company to tailspin and fall under the control of a former Microsoft executive.

Only then, can we know that things cant get any worse for King.
But aren't the scum at the top the people we want to see fail, not the developers just doing their (admittedly poorly chosen) job?

I'm pretty sure it's not King we want to see fail, so much as the assholes that run it.
 

Hero in a half shell

It's not easy being green
Dec 30, 2009
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CriticalMiss said:
In other bad news for King, its IPO didn't go as well as the company had hoped either. It launched at $22.50 per share, square in the middle of the expected range of $21 to $24, but opened well below that mark in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange at just $20.50 and slowly dribbled down to a close of $19, a loss of more than 15.5 percent over the course of the day.
It really is looking like a repeat of Zynga, only quicker it would seem.
Huzzah for anarchy!

Let's celebrate with a rocking tune:

 

WhiteTigerShiro

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Sep 26, 2008
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CriticalMiss said:
"Candy is an integral part of the Cut the Rope franchise,"
Is it? I only briefly played the game for a few minutes months ago so I don't really remember it well but I don't remember any candy. And if candy is integral would it be enough to get King's trademark dissolved?
The entire game is about using physics to fling (or drop, or whatever) a piece of candy into a little monster's mouth. Honestly, I think Zeptolap is being kinda tongue-in-cheek about this. Kinda trolling the patent troll, but the genius is that it still works as a serious case.
 

Quellist

Migratory coconut
Oct 7, 2010
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Bwah-ha-ha king! personally i think the only way this could get better is if someone hacked the website to add 'Wan' to their company name!