James Delahunty
2 Nov 2013 1:22
Zynga has not infringed the 'Scrabble' trademark owned by toy giant Mattel, the High Court in the UK has found.
Mattel accused Zynga - the company behind online gaming successes like Farmville - of infringing its 'Scrabble' trademark with its "Scramble With Friend". Essentially, Mattel felt that Zynga was trying to confuse users into thinking they were downloading a scrabble game.
While the High Court judge, Mr Justice Peter Smith, did not agree with Mattel's assessment that Zynga's actions constitute trademark infringement, he did concede that a curly letter M in the logo of the game could be confusing for users, who might think the game is Scrabble.
Mattel - the world's largest manufacturer of toys - said it planned to appeal.
"We are pleased that the English High Court today affirmed Mattel's request for an injunction against Zynga, finding that the similarities between their Scramble With Friends logo and Mattel's intellectual property likely would confuse the public into thinking they were in fact downloading Scrabble," said Mattel spokesman Alan Hilowitz, reports BBC News.
"We are, however, disappointed that the court did not rule that Zynga should cease using the Scramble name, which Mattel intends to appeal."