Candy Crush Saga development studio, King, has made several aggressive moves to protect its "Candy" trademark. While doing so, the company insisted that it was "respectful of the rights and IP of other developers," but it seems that it isn't above playing legal dirty tricks to further its interests. Or at least, that's what Candy Swipe developer, Albert Ransom claims.
In an open letter to King, Ransom said that Candy Crush Saga was released two years after Candy Swipe did. Over the last year Ransom has been fighting off Candy Crush Saga's trademark for its uncanny resemblance to his game, but now he believes that he's losing the legal battle after King bought the rights for an older game with a similar name.
Speaking to King in his open letter, Ransom told them that "two years after I released CandySwipe, you released Candy Crush Saga on mobile; the app icon, candy pieces, and even the rewarding, 'Sweet!' are nearly identical. So much so, that I have hundreds of instances of actual confusion from users who think CandySwipe is Candy Crush Saga, or that CandySwipe is a Candy Crush Saga knockoff."
"So when you attempted to register your trademark in 2012, I opposed it for 'likelihood of confusion' (which is within my legal right) given I filed for my registered trademark back in 2010 (two years before Candy Crush Saga existed)," he continued.
"Now, after quietly battling this trademark opposition for a year, I have learned that you now want to cancel my CandySwipe trademark so that I don't have the right to use my own game's name. You are able to do this because only within the last month you purchased the rights to a game named Candy Crusher (which is nothing like CandySwipe or even Candy Crush Saga)."
"CandySwipe was my first and most successful game; it's my livelihood, and you are now attempting to take that away from me," Ransom plead. "You have taken away the possibility of CandySwipe blossoming into what it has the potential of becoming. I have been quiet, not to exploit the situation, hoping that both sides could agree on a peaceful resolution. However, your move to buy a trademark for the sole purpose of getting away with infringing on the CandySwipe trademark and goodwill just sickens me."
