Looks Like There May Be More Trademark Fights About Mafia Wars Than There Were Actual Mafia Wars

from the going-to-the-mattresses dept

In February of 2009, we noted that the makers of the popular Facebook game Mob Wars was suing Zynga, the makers of the (also popular) Facebook game Mafia Wars. As we noted at the time, this was a bit silly, since both games were based on a series of other very, very similar games that had come before them. Neither was particularly original. And then, a few months later, Zynga struck out and claimed trademark infringement against another company, Playdom (recently purchased by Disney) for its game Mobsters. Again, this seemed to be a blatant abuse of trademark law to attack a competitor, rather than a legitimate complaint. Either way, Zynga eventually paid up on the first complaint, shelling out an estimated $7 to $9 million.

And now it continues with yet another player. Eric Goldman points us to the news that game maker Digital Chocolate is now suing Zynga for trademark infringement over the name "Mafia Wars," noting that it has actually offered a game called Mafia Wars itself since 2004: Apparently Digital Chocolate complained about Zynga's use of the identical name from early on, and Zynga promised that it would not trademark or claim trademark on "Mafia Wars." Yet, as the complaint against Playdom demonstrated, it absolutely did exactly that, and Digital Chocolate is not at all pleased:

Digital Chocolate has repeatedly objected to Zynga's ongoing use of the MAFIA WARS mark, but despite Digital Chocolate's notices and demands, Zynga has persisted in offering its game under the MAFIA WARS mark. Although in May 2009 Zynga expressly assured Digital Chocolate, in writing, that "Zynga does not claim trademark rights in MAFIA WARS," just two months later Zynga filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") seeking to register MAFIA WARS as its trademark. Despite being on notice of Digital Chocolate's senior rights and infringement claim, Zynga repeatedly misrepresented to the USPTO that no other entity owned or claimed rights in the MAFIA WARS mark.

Through duplicity and bad faith, Zynga has effectively hijacked the MAFIA WARS mark from Digital Chocolate and is aggressively marketing its games under the MAFIA WARS mark to Digital Chocolate's substantial detriment. To protect its intellectual property rights and prevent Zynga from benefitting from its wrongful conduct, Digital Chocolate has initiated this action.

The complaint certainly doesn't make Zynga look good, though the company has always had a really nasty reputation when it comes to its business practices. Still, it's really amazing how many legal fights there can be over a game like Mafia Wars, with such a generic name, and based on a concept that was around in other games for ages. Either way, given the pretty clear evidence that Digital Chocolate was first in this market, and Zynga's questionable statements claiming that it was first, I'd be surprised if Zynga doesn't end up handing over a large check to Digital Chocolate at some point soon. Considering that (unlike the other disputes), Digital Chocolate clearly was using the identical name, and offering a similar game, this seems like one trademark dispute that actually does involve a legitimate "likelihood of confusion."

Filed Under: mafia wars, trademark
Companies: digital chocolate, playdom, zynga

Zynga Threatens Mafia Wars Auto Play Script Over Copyright Violations...

from the but-what-copyright? dept

I have to admit to massive disappointment with Zynga. The company who was founded by and invested in by folks who I tend to think are rather "clueful" has been involved in all sorts of questionable activity, from virtual goods scams to ridiculous trademark lawsuits against competitors. The latest, sent in by reader Eric, is a case where it looks like Zynga is really stretching copyright law as well. Specifically, Zynga has sent a cease & desist to the folks who make an autoplayer script called Mafia Wars Auto Player. MWAP appears to do what you would expect: which is allow a player who has installed it in his or her Firefox browser (it's a Greasemonkey userscript) to "autoplay" the game Mafia Wars based on parameters set in the tool. Seems pretty straightforward.

Now, Mafia Wars bans the use of such scripts in its terms of service, and has apparently been known to ban users caught using such scripts. I don't quite understand why this is a big deal (admittedly, I don't play the game, but I don't see how this is different than if a player sat there and played repetitively themselves), but if Zynga wants to ban players, so be it. But what isn't clear at all is how the makers of this userscript are violating Zynga's copyright. You can look at the full source code of the user script here, and I'm at a loss to see where the copyright violation occurs. I can understand that Zynga doesn't like that this userscript exists, but I'm not clear how "we don't like it" means "it infringes our copyright." Instead, it has the feeling of a (now) big company using the threat of copyright law to try to push a small community to shut down. And, it appears to have worked, as the MWAP people have decided to comply with the C&D rather than fight it.

Filed Under: copyright, mafia wars, threats
Companies: zynga

Morons In A Hurry Can Figure Out That There Are Different Facebook Mafia Games

from the kiss-of-death dept

Apparently, today's mobsters are intellectual property lawyers. Back in February, we wrote about a ridiculous lawsuit between the creator of an online game, Mob Wars, and the online creator of the game Mafia Wars, claiming copyright infringement. Of course, the whole claim was silly since the game itself is based on a rather common game concept that was around for ages before either of these games existed. Rather than fighting a silly court battle, why not actually compete on features? So now we've got a new battle, between Zynga (makers of Mafia Wars) and Playdom, the makers of yet another game, called Mobsters, with Zynga claiming trademark infringement due to the way Playdom is running ads for Mobsters.

But the details seem like this is an abuse of trademark law to harm a competitor rather than a legitimate complaint. Zynga's complaint is that Playdom put up an ad that read: "Like Mafia Wars? Click here to play Mobsters. Its [sic] got henchmen, mini games, message boards and sophisticated style." Zynga claims that this is somehow confusing because it doesn't include Playdom's name anywhere. However, it seems abundantly clear that the ad is for a different game and they're just targeting players of Zynga's game. That's not trademark infringement. That's targeted advertising. It's why Pepsi is allowed to run ads trying to get Coke drinkers to switch. You can use the name of your competitor in an ad.

What's especially disappointing is that some of Zynga's investors, such as Fred Wilson and Brad Feld, have long complained about misuses of intellectual property law to stop competition -- and now they're supporting a company that appears to be doing the same thing. It's a waste of money that should be going towards competing and making a better game, rather than worrying about what competitors are saying in their ads.

Filed Under: ads, games, mafia wars, mobsters, social networking, trademark
Companies: playdom, zynga

Mafia Wars vs. Mob Wars Battle To Take Place In Court Rather Than Online

from the take-it-to-the-matresses dept

Apparently the creator behind the Facebook game Mob Wars is suing the creator of the similar game Mafia Wars for copyright infringement. Zynga, the makers of Mafia Wars have basically built a pretty good business around making copies of other (sometimes well-known, sometimes not) games for platforms like Facebook, MySpace and other sites. But that's fine. Both Mob Wars and Mafia Wars are popular -- and having the two compete with each other shouldn't be a bad thing. It drives both developers to keep improving the overall experience. Besides, both games are based on concepts that have been popular in games for ages -- since well before either came into existence. Could you imagine if only one software company could produce a Texas Hold 'Em app? Or only one company could produce a baseball video game? That would be silly. So why should only one company be able to produce a text-based game about mobsters? Just focus on competing online, rather than in the courtroom.

Filed Under: copyright, iphone games, mafia wars, mob wars
Companies: zynga