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King.com also going after The Banner Saga

R

rottame

Member
fuzzyset said:
They may physically work primarily in Sweden, but the court doc in the OP explicitly says they are based in Malta. Clearly for tax purposes, I understand it's legal and 'everyone' does it, but I still think it's a crappy thing to do.
Click to expand...

Yeah. That is pretty common in the gambling business (those who work in it call it "gaming business" which always makes me cringe).
 
U

Uncle Rupee

Banned
deathkiller said:
This actually makes more sense than Candy since King.com use Saga as part of the name of their games, examples:

Pepper Panic Saga
Bubble Witch Saga
Farm Heroes Saga
Papa Pear Saga
Pyramid Solitaire Saga
Candy Crush Saga
Pet Rescue Saga
Bubble Saga
Hoop De Loop Saga
Mahjong Saga
Puzzle Saga
Click to expand...

Shovelware Saga
 
W

wrowa

Member
deathkiller said:
This actually makes more sense than Candy since King.com use Saga as part of the name of their games, examples:

Pepper Panic Saga
Bubble Witch Saga
Farm Heroes Saga
Papa Pear Saga
Pyramid Solitaire Saga
Candy Crush Saga
Pet Rescue Saga
Bubble Saga
Hoop De Loop Saga
Mahjong Saga
Puzzle Saga
Click to expand...

Man, Square should sue this terrible King company. How can they use the wildly popular name of Square's long-running SaGa series?! Pah!
 
E

El Sloth

Banned
Oh come the fuck on. I'm so tired of seeing people abusing the patent and trademark system. I wish someone with real political clout would seriously try to take on the shitty task of reforming the system.
 
B

BPoole

Member
Sega and Saga have me confused. These King.com guys should have Sega shut down to avoid any further confusion. Wouldn't want someone to mistakenly buy an actual video game instead of some iOS/Android trailer trash game that has as much depth as a slot machine
 
V

VibratingDonkey

Member
This being the first I've heard of King or their games, I was already unwittingly on a boycott, but I'll keep it up, I suppose.

Why are all their Saga trademark applications still pending? Some were filed over two years ago. Is that normal?
 
X

Xenex

Member
Riki said:
You make one mediocre game that people enjoy and you think you rule the world.
Click to expand...

Well in my opinion it's a shit game, we really are living in Idiocracy - Kings must think so as well if they think consumers confuse Candy Crush Saga with The Banner Saga or think the two are related.
 
S

Sutton Dagger

Member
Do these guys have a Facebook community Page or Twitter account? I think it's time that we let them know that these ridiculous claims have turned us off their products and that we'll being letting as many people know as possible.
 
L

li bur

Member
For suing games with that hijack their popularity, sure its fine. But this seems like an intern was tasked to do the list and he/she just fucked up.

They also shouldn't even go to such length for a franchise that wouldn't really be relevant in the coming years.
 
J

JackDebian

Banned
I suppose I could join a boycott of king.com's games, if I ever played total shit-heel games like that in the first place. They are a flavor of the month, nothing more. In a few years they will be spiraling out of control and hemorrhaging money just like Zynga. The mobile market is a fickle beast.
 
K

KaiPow

Banned
So, patent trolling from Malta. Is king.com held accountable for their actions since they're located outside of US domain?
 
B

Balphon

Member
King's likelihood of confusion argument here seems tenuous at best, but the reaction to their recent legal maneuvering is pretty overblown, by and large.
 
P

PaulLFC

Member
Balphon said:
King's likelihood of confusion argument here seems tenuous at best, but the reaction to their recent legal maneuvering is pretty overblown, by and large.
Click to expand...
Why's that?

They're going after a game that has nothing to do with any of their games, shares no artistic styles, themes, or indeed anything except for the word "saga". There have been many games before with the word "saga" in their titles, why do King believe they can suddenly come along and start demanding anyone using the word "saga" in their game title stop doing so lest said otherwise-completely-unrelated game be confused with their "heavily inspired" Bejeweled-a-like?

In addition, as of now they're going after small companies like Stoic, who they likely believe have less chance of successfully defending themselves (for mostly cost reasons) than someone like Square or Sega would. Deplorable behaviour, if anything the reaction from the gaming press hasn't been strong enough up to now, never mind "overblown".
 
E

Eusis

Member
Lunar15 said:
That SaGa remake is fucked.
Click to expand...
Square Enix has money, and may even kill to keep that name. Though more likely they'd just settle out of court unless they're THAT enormous if assholes. I kind of want that though, a long prolonged legal battle that ensures it's thrown into the same place yo-yo was by pure accident.
Balphon said:
King's likelihood of confusion argument here seems tenuous at best, but the reaction to their recent legal maneuvering is pretty overblown, by and large.
Click to expand...
We remember the Edge/Langdell spat, and were worrying about this exact sort of thing when they trademarked Candy. Combined with the fact Saga's been used in game names many times (and almost all of them better suited for the name frankly) and it really is absolute bullshit that needs to be mercilessly stomped out. Though if even Edge can take forever and ever to get through I don't have the highest hopes here unless they go after sufficiently big targets.
 
E

excowboy

Member
Quick Google shows that the Banner Saga Kickstarter began before Candy Crush Saga came out - it was actually released in the middle of Stoic's campaign!

Also, surely you can't copyright a word?!
 
B

Balphon

Member
PaulLFC said:
Why's that?
Click to expand...

Because the nature of trademarks requires their holders to be almost excessively litigious. Comparing the action here (a trademark registration opposition filing) with something like "patent trolling" is rather ridiculous, as the two bear little resemblance.

PaulLFC said:
They're going after a game that has nothing to do with any of their games, shares no artistic styles, themes, or indeed anything except for the word "saga". There have been many games before with the word "saga" in their titles, why do King believe they can suddenly come along and start demanding anyone using the word "saga" in their game title stop doing so lest said otherwise-completely-unrelated game be confused with their "heavily inspired" Bejeweled-a-like?
Click to expand...

As I said, their argument is not particularly persuasive given the nature of their mark.

PaulLFC said:
In addition, as of now they're going after small companies like Stoic, who they likely believe have less chance of successfully defending themselves (for mostly cost reasons) than someone like Square or Sega would. Deplorable behaviour, if anything the reaction from the gaming press hasn't been strong enough up to now, never mind "overblown".
Click to expand...

Fair enough. However, though this behavior is certainly unsavory, it's not uncommon, so I still don't understand the sudden ire.
 
E

Eusis

Member
excowboy said:
Quick Google shows that the Banner Saga Kickstarter began before Candy Crush Saga came out - it was actually released in the middle of Stoic's campaign!

Also, surely you can't copyright a word?!
Click to expand...
Trademarks and copyrights are different. And I think you can successfully invalidate a trademark if it's been used very commonly in the past at least without any legal action. Need to see what all happened with the yo-yo case (but maybe the law changed since then?

It'd probably have helped if SaGa were kept active in the US though, as that can be pointed at quite readily. Though there was Sorcery Saga last month and others.
 
P

PoweredBySoy

Banned
King.com reminds me of Kin Corn Karn

kinmug.jpg


Just bought Banner Saga. Choke on shit, King.com.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
I would imagine Square Enix might have a problem with this since they have a franchise literally called Saga.
 
Hari Seldon

Hari Seldon

Member
How can these shitheads trademark anything game related? They don't make games, they make shovelware. So if any other bastard makes one of these (likely) illegal gambling apps designed for kids, then they should have standing.
 
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