Candy Crush creator King have abandoned their copyright claim for the word “Candy” in the US after weeks of controversy
According to documents filed with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office, King “filed an express abandonment” on the claim. This does not affect their claim to the word “Saga”, not claims to the word “Candy” elsewhere in the world. So while US developers are free to use the word “candy” to their hearts content, EU developers are still out of luck.
The reason for King’s claims on “candy” and “Saga” are an attempt to protect their IP, with their reasoning being that similar sounding products would cause consumer confusion and less sales for them. The most worst example of this logic in action is their opposition to Stoic’s The Banner Saga, with King claiming the name is too similar to their hugely popular Candy Crush Saga.
When asked for a statement by Kotaku, King stated:
“King has withdrawn its trademark application for Candy in the U.S., which we applied for in February 2013 before we acquired the early rights to Candy Crusher.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 U.S. market. This does not affect our E.U. trademark for Candy and we continue to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP.”
While this is a step in the right direction, King still has a long way to go to stem the tide of anger their copyright claims have caused.