King Seeks To Abandon US "Candy" Trademark

King, the maker behind Candy Crush Saga, found its purpose in life back in 2012 with the advent of its aforementioned game, which went on to earn extensive popularity amongst mobile gamers. The company has experienced increased criticism and controversy in recent times, however, spurred by its trademarking of the generic word "candy" and legal targeting of games with similar names, among other things. At least part of that controversy will soon disappear, however, with King filing to abandon its "candy" trademark in the United States.

King has confirmed that it filed for what is known as "express abandonment" of its candy trademark with the USPTO, though it will retain its "candy" trademark in the European Union, which it has made clear it will still fight to protect. Despite what one might be tempted to think, the move hasn't resulted from public pressure or altruistic motives, but instead from its recent acquisition of the trademark "Candy Crusher".

That acquisition brought about its own controversy earlier this month, when it was used to go after the game CandySwipe, which pre-dates Candy Crush Saga. CandySwipe's creator had posted an open letter calling out King on its efforts, saying that "your move to buy a trademark for the sole purpose of getting away with infringing on the CandySwipe trademark and goodwill just sickens me."

Said King on the trademark abandonment: "King has withdrawn its trademark application for Candy in the US, which we applied for in February 2013 before we acquired the early rights to Candy Crusher. 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 US market. This does not affect our EU trademark for Candy, and we continue to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP."

SOURCE: ars technica