King’s Candy trademark filing "makes complete sense"

The decision to trademark the Candy name is a perfectly logical one, a UK lawyer has argued.

Publisher King has come in for a heap of criticism following its move to protect its Candy Crush Saga brand, but Marks & Clerk trademark attorney Aidan Clarke says that it would have been mad not to.

Given the great reputation that King have built on the brand in such a short time, it makes complete sense for them to seek to protect the ‘candy’ name,” he said. Like Rovio before them, who took care to trade mark ‘Angry Birds’, King will likely to want to use the ‘candy’ name for merchandise, such as clothing.

In Europe, it is easier to protect individual words, like ‘candy’, than in the US, where they would possibly have to register the whole ‘Candy Crush Saga’ name as a mark.

They have sought to protect the mark for computer games, clothing and entertainment products. You have to be forward thinking when you’re applying for trademarks, considering what you’ll be doing in the next three to five years.

The merchandising opportunities a games maker has when one of its games goes viral can be huge and it makes sense to apply for protection for clothing, computer games and entertainment, if not for other classes of goods too.”