Zynga is apparently trying to enforce a trademark on games with the name "ville" attached to them, according to this GameIndustry.biz report. The court action was aimed at a developer and game called "Blingville." The action against Blingville has apparently been in the works since November of last year, but last week Blingville responded by filing a declaratory judgment statement.
That judgment stated that its game's title constituted a "fair use" of the trademark. The declaratory judgment statement also asks the courts to order Zynga to pay Blingville's attorneys' fees, costs and other expenses incurred because of the court action.
It will be interesting to see if Zynga can enforce such a vague trademark, though Blingville is a Facebook game, so maybe Zynga will have a stronger case against it. We will keep you posted.
Comments
Re: The Battle for 'Ville' Games on Facebook
This seems like a pretty obvious attempt to cash in on Zynga's established market of "ville" games. It's not as though this is a coincidence. As much as I detest Zynga and their garbage games, I feel like they should definitely have a case here. Unless this game is a parody of some sort, I don't believe this is covered by fair use.
Re: The Battle for 'Ville' Games on Facebook
Good thing nobody made a game called EdgeVille...
Re: The Battle for 'Ville' Games on Facebook
I've trademarked the use of the number "2" in my game titles. Sorry Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mass Effect 2, LittleBigPlanet 2 and others. You're going to have to pay damages or come up with an original name that doesn't infringe on my trademark.
Andrew Eisen
Re: The Battle for 'Ville' Games on Facebook
I like the headline better when I misread it as "Vile."
There has not been a single one of the "ville" games that I did not think was vile.