King has bought an old trademark, and you're not going to like how they're using it | Gamezebo:

At the time of Ransom’s filing, King had little ground to stand on. Ransom’s game predated theirs, and he already held the mark for CANDYSWIPE, so it was up to the courts to decide. So here’s what King did: they bought an earlier trademark from another company, and are using that to try and have Ransom’s CANDYSWIPE trademark registration cancelled.

The mark in question, CANDY CRUSHER, has been tied with game software and mobile applications (according to King’s filing) since 2004. It was acquired by King from its previous owner, AIM Productions N.V., on January 10, 2014.

A guy has a game that was released months before Candy Crush, and whose name and approximate gameplay is reasonably reproduced in that later game. So he's got a trademark for CandySwipe, and fights Candy Crush's application for trademarking the name Candy Crush & Candy.  He, rightfully enough, seems to think he should have seniority in the candy-named, match three (?) games.

So Candy Crush buys an older game with a similar name so that they can shut him down.

Seriously, our legal system is too weird if not for words, then because of them.  Reminds me of advice I give kids, "Be careful how you word your wishes, in case they come true." Wish someone would warn lawmakers too. If only they didn't stand to gain by going through a revolving door out of lawmaking and into the business of selling the friction of enforcing them.

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