“Candy” may be a generic term used to describe everything from chocolate to lollipops, but when it comes to mobile gaming, it’s a trademarked term — and now one company has legal ownership of it.
King Inc., which created the popular smartphone game “Candy Crush Saga,” just received a trademark for the word, Gamezebo reported. And it’s already started down a legal course of action to make sure other gaming brands don’t infringe, Business Insider reported.
Ben Hsu, the developer of All Candy Casino Slots, a slot machine iPhone app that uses candy instead of coins, was sent a blunt warning letter from King, informing Mr. Hsu, “Your use of CANDY SLOTS in your app icon uses our CANDY trademark exactly, for identical goods, which amounts to trademark infringement and is likely to lead to consumer confusion and damage to our brand.”
King Inc. is trying to pressure Mr. Hsu to remove his app from iTunes, though the company issued a statement claiming that it wouldn’t go after game developers who used the word “candy” in ways that didn’t cross its trademark, Business Insider reported.
“We don’t enforce against all used of CANDY — some are legitimate and of course, we would not ask app developers who use the term legitimately to stop doing so,” the company said, according to the Insider.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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