Candy Crush developer protests The Banner Saga trademark
The developer of the hit Facebook game Candy Crush Saga has filed a protest with the US Patent and Trademark Office against the pending trademark application for the new game The Banner Saga.
The name The Banner Saga, which is being developed by the Texas studio Stoic, is too similar to his previously registered names, according to developer King. In addition to Candy Crush Saga, King has a series of other game titles with ‘Saga’ as the last word. According to King, The Banner Saga is too similar to these titles, and that could cause confusion and misunderstanding, according to the protest that King has filed.
According to King, it is possible that the name of the game might lead consumers to think that The Banner Saga was made by King, which would allow the game to take advantage of the status built up by this company. The Malta-based developer is therefore requesting the US Patent and Trademark Office to reject Stoic’s application. In that case, Stoic would have to come up with another name for his game.
The role-playing game The Banner Saga has been available for download from Steam since last week. The game allows players to experience an adventure in a Norse Viking-inspired game world, and was created through a Kickstarter fundraiser. Developer Stoic is, if there is sufficient success for the first part, also planning to add a second and third part to the rpg, which can only be played via Steam for the time being.
King doesn’t limit his trademark watch to the word “Saga,” by the way. The developer had the word ‘Candy’ registered within the European Union. According to King, their property was ‘continuously infringed’ and the company wanted to guard against this. The company cited a name used by a casino game, Candy Slots, as an example.
Whether this action has the desired effect remains to be seen; some developers are organizing a game development contest called Candy Jam in response to King’s trademark. Here, independent developers are allowed to submit games made by them in which candies play a role, while the word “candy” must be used more than once. The use of the words ‘saga’, ‘scrolls’ and ‘apple’ yields bonus points according to the organization. The organizers of the Candy Jam say they came up with the initiative because they believe that having trademarks registered on normal words is ridiculous.