'Candy Crush' maker crushes indie app developer's livelihood

King.com, the maker of "Candy Crush Saga," is bidding to cancel the registration of the trademark of a game that predated the hit mobile game. And naturally, the predecessor's creator isn't happy about it.

 

Albert Ransom, president and founder of Runsome Apps Inc.—and maker of the "CandySwipe" game—scored King.com for trying in effect to ground a game that came well before "Candy Crush."

 

"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)," he said in an open letter to the "Candy Crush" maker.

 

"Good for you, you win. I hope you're happy taking the food out of my family's mouth when CandySwipe clearly existed well before Candy Crush Saga," he added.

 

Ransom said he created "CandySwipe" in memory of his late mother, who died of leukemia at age 62. He said he released CandySwipe in 2010, five months after she died.

 

On the other hand, he noted "Candy Crush Saga" - released much later - had the same app icon, candy pieces, and even the rewarding "Sweet!" with his game.

 

"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," he said.

 

Yet, Ransom said he spent over three years working on this game as an independent app developer.

 

"(I)t's my livelihood, and you are now attempting to take that away from me. 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," he said.

 

A separate report on Gamezebo.com said King.com was scrutinized for the choices it made for Intelliectual Property protection.

 

While it initially sought a trademark on the word Candy, it turned into a battle over Stoic’s The Banner Saga trademark.

 

It noted King CEO Riccardo Zacconi at the time quelled netizens' anger "with a seemingly heartfelt response on the issues that had been brought up."

 

But now, it noted King may be trying to get rid of Ransom by buying an earlier trademark from another company, and using it to have Ransom’s "CandySwipe" trademark registration cancelled.

 

"While King has every right to protect their IP (and purchasing an earlier mark like CANDY CRUSHER makes sense in this context), using that mark to try and shut down a game that predated yours goes against everything Zacconi said last month," it said.

 

GMA News Online reached out to King.com for comment but received no reply.  — TJD, GMA News