Game Developers Protest “Candy Crush Saga” Maker

How do game developers protest King,com's trademarking of "candy" and the way the game company threatens each new game with "candy" and "saga" in the title with litigation? Why, a hackathon creating games with "candy" in the title.

The hackathon is called Candy Jam and was started by Itch.io to protest King.com's trademarking of what it considers a common word and its high-handed way of threatening other similar-named creators with legal action, according to Candy Jam site. The game distributor is calling on programmers to create and release candy-themed and -named games until Feb.3 as a way to protest King.com's tactics, according to AppleInsider:

King purchased the trademark for the word "candy" in Europe from a now-defunct company and had filed an application to duplicate that trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The company already owns trademarks for "saga."

King issued an open letter on its website about the controversy saying it's simply protecting its intellectual property.
 
While we hope that King.com won't be able to own a trademark for the word "candy" in the United States, we don't know how much a protest of game developing will help the cause. However, publicizing King's actions to the world may help it a lot more.
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