Zynga Tells CupidWithFriends To Stop Using ‘With Friends’

http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/17/with-friends-joke-goes-here/

by siong1987 • 13 years ago

22 23 13 years ago

techcrunch.com

t0• 13 years ago

Original thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5721310

deadfall• 13 years ago

This is silly. "Hey, Zynga, stop using 'Wars'. Thanks, Ninendo"

jmtame5• 13 years ago

Their claim is that it'll cause confusion, but my thoughts are: if you're going to trademark a common English phrase, you should be prepared to deal with some amount of confusion. People have been doing stuff with friends before Zynga came along.

pvnick• 13 years ago

Two words I think pretty much summarize my general sentiment towards Zynga.

"Fuck you"

gummydude• 13 years ago

No, "Fuck USPTO"

robryan• 13 years ago

Am I the only one that thinks this is a legitimate? I could see myself thinking anything suffixed with "with friends" that is an app as part of the Zynga range.

Granted that fact that it isn't a game could be enough to remove some of the confusion.

mattsfrey• 13 years ago

Yeah I'm conflicted on this one. I'm usually very much against such things but in this case it's just more likely than not that they made the name in light of the popularity of the "X With Friends" apps. On the other hand though it's such a general trademark using a common phrase. Very tough to decide.

rhizome• 13 years ago

This reads to me like a "just add Internet!" rationale. Zynga is not in the dating game, and it will be their responsiblity to show that users look to Zynga for more than (disposable) games.

jmtame5• 13 years ago

I think it'd be one thing if we were a gaming company and used a thought bubble with the same look and design that Zynga uses for their With Friends family of marks, but there's no possibility of confusion there and on top of that, we don't operate in the same space. We're a dating startup. CupidForFriends.com is taken otherwise we would have just switched and 301 redirected.

pbiggar3• 13 years ago

Got to say I disagree here. You might be in a different space but you're close enough for confusion. "With Friends" is a valuable trademark for them, they spent a lot on building that trademark, and you are piggybacking on it intentionally (I could be wrong about the intentionally part, but I'd be surprised).

I really think you should change the name. If you go on a full out fight with Zynga, you won't find much sympathy I think.

That said, some very nice PR here, and you can probably look forward to some more PR once you acquiesce :)

ameister14• 13 years ago

I think since dating sites fall into the entertainment category that it's surprisingly legitimate.

LancerSykera• 13 years ago

First time I saw Cupid With Friends mentioned here on HN, I immediately thought of Zynga. I'm not saying I actually thought they had anything to do with Zynga whatsoever, but the naming connection was immediate.

darkarmani2• 13 years ago

I thought of Friendster. I think they should sue.

bradleyjg• 13 years ago

They built a business copying scrabble.

Whatever the legal merits of protecting a name verses protecting a game, they get exactly zero sympathy from me for their intellectual property claims.

rdl• 13 years ago

I do associate "crap with friends" with Zynga, so I'd rebrand, not because of the letter, but because they have poisoned the general "with friends" phrase.

Zynga Tells CupidWithFriends To Stop Using ‘With Friends’

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