Candy Crush Maker King.com Has Trademarked 'Candy' For Games

An anonymous reader writes ""King.com, owners of Candy Crush, have received a U.S. trademark on the use of the word 'candy' in games and clothing. Forbes thinks it is overly broad. 'One would think Hasbro, the maker of that venerable children's board game (which does have video game versions) Candy Land, would already have this trademark sewed up.'" According to an update on the story, the company also has a EU trademark on the same term, but (however much comfort this is) is enforcing its claims only selectively, as against a game called All Candy Casino Slots – Jewel Craze Connect: Big Blast Mania Land.

Comments

Weak

[Sponge Bath]

That's a candy assed move. Government, please stop giving exclusive use of language to corporations. Some of us still use it for communication.

Re:Weak

[Sponge Bath]

not being able to use the word "candy" in the names for children's clothes and games affects your ability to communicate?

Yes. How else am I supposed to describe my "Stealing Candy from Babies" game and line of clothing if I can't use the generic word candy? If they want exclusivity, they should stick to made up words like bonerific and tasticle.

Over-reaching by miles

[MitchDev]

" U.S. trademark on the use of the word 'candy' in games and clothing."

Yet another example of how broken the whole trademark/copyright/patent system is...

This stuff is so stupid (and so is Forbes)

[Huntr]

The issue isn't that Hasbro should have already trademarked "candy", it's that "candy" shouldn't be able to be trademarked at all. It's a common freakin' word and should be able to be used in game titles and clothing w/o licensing.

Burning copycat apps who are ripping off your game is a different issue, but this shouldn't be the solution.

Re:This stuff is so stupid (and so is Forbes)

[addie]

Never mind that Candy Crush is itself a rip-off of Bejeweled and countless other identical games that came before it. The whole thing just reeks.

Re:This stuff is so stupid (and so is Forbes)

[MightyMartian]

I'm sure it will get crushed, but it will cost someone a good deal of money. That's the issue. Even many bad patent and copyright claims can be defeated in court, but you have to have the money to get there. In part, this is the fault of morons working for trademark and patent offices, and in part it is due to lawyers, of which there are far too many, and far too few severe repercussions for abuse of process.

Re:This stuff is so stupid (and so is Forbes)

[TheLink]

Probably Hasbro is surprised as well and didn't think the system had become so ridiculous that they could have done that. After all there was some fuss over Windows in the past, the initial trademark application was rejected in 1993, but somehow they succeeded in 1995: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12...

I personally believe that trademarks should not be allowed on common single words[1]. If they want to trademark single words they should make up their own words. Trademarking rare/unique word combinations or phrases should be allowed.

[1] I'm not sure if Amazon qualifies as common, I think it's not such a common word in daily usage (other than specifically referring to Amazon corp's stuff). Whereas Candy is certainly not uncommon for games and clothes.

This makes no sense ...

[gstoddart]

How can you copyright the word 'Candy' for trademark?

Microsoft can only trademark "Windows" in their specific context, and clothing targeted towards 'Candy ravers' has been around a long time. Are you really claiming nobody can make a candy themed game??

This is completely ridiculous, and whoever granted this must have been drunk, stupid, or paid off.

Re:This makes no sense ...

[gstoddart]

Is "computer games" more specific than "operating systems"?

Is it reasonable to say nobody can have a computer game with the word 'candy' in its title?

Me, I think not.

Of course.

[Seumas]

They don't want anyone to benefit from anything in their Bejeweled game.

Prior art all over the place?

[pr0t0]

Google: candy games -crush
Set date filter: 01/01/2011 - 12/31/2011 (Candy Crush was released on Facebook 04/12/2012)

I mean really? Could thousands of online and mobile games with the word "candy" in them, existing years, even decades before King Games released Candy Crush, suddenly be in violation of a newly registered trademark?