Farmville Legal Fight: Who Owns "Ville?"

[The Straight Story]

Farmville Legal Fight: Who Owns "Ville?"

A legal fight may be building up in the video game world, but I'm not talking about EA and Activision sparring over Infinity Ward. Casual game maker Zynga is taking legal issue with other game companies using the "Ville" suffix with their facebook games.

Zynga has created six popular Facebook games -- CityVille, FarmVille, FishVille, FrontierVille, PetVille, and YoVille -- that have a few things in common. First, they seem carefully crafted to suck both your time and your money away incrementally, and two, they all end in "Ville." So Zynga seems to feel that other companies' "Ville" games are infringing on their trademark, or, as the kids might say, "cold bitin' they steez." (I apologize.)


Their first target: Blingville. Zynga has threatened to sue the company behind it, Overtime Apps. Here's how Overtime Apps responded:

"Zynga does not own and has not registered or applied for any trademark registrations at the USPTO for any trademark rights in the word 'Blingville' or any word marks similar thereto...Blingville's use of the trademark 'Blingville' in its social networking game constitutes a fair use of the trademark."


Read more: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/709971/who-owns-ville.html#ixzz1C93WVp2c

[dipsydoodle]

1. Wasn't Farmville

stolen from Farmtown in the first place anyway ?

[nxylas]

2. And YoVille

Maybe the town of Yeovil in England could sue Zynga for stealing its name. It'd serve them right.

[nitpicker]

3. There is a Farmville in Vitrginia

And I even have been there.

Perhaps a new source of revenue for the town???

[Bucky]

4. I'm waiting for someone to develop the MafiaVille app. Of course I won't play that either.

But still, I wait.

[WinkyDink]

5. Wow. Now THIS is what qualifies as "a frivolous lawsuit." (BRB: Copyrighting "town.")

[dipsydoodle]

6. DC Comics might have something to say about that.

Smallville !

[Zephie]

7. "cold bitin' they steez"? WTF, who talks like that?

Am I that old already?

[ejpoeta]

8. can you really claim ownership of such a standard ending to words?

there was a movie called 'pleasantville' which predates these zynga games. plus a whole lot of actual places that end in 'ville'. That would be like apple going after anyone using 'app'. that would be ludicrous. I don't like any of those games anyway. seem pointless. but i do like bejeweled-ville and zuma-ville too. hehe.

[Erose999]

9. Old people love Farmville even more than bingo. I am thinking about moving down to Florida and

opening a Farmville hall. Where old people can pay by the hour to play Farmville.

[WinkyDink]

13. Really? Because none of my 60yrs+ friends nor I care one whit about it.

[Lint Head]

10. Is Zynga one of those "small businesses" that need a break?

:sarcasm:

[DinahMoeHum]

11. "I don't care about your fish, your farm, your park, or your mafia"

as sayeth in Facebook.

:evilgrin:

[WinkyDink]

14. Yes. I realized that Facebook makes one use its own phrasing.

[MichellesBFF]

12. It's a French word for city

Maybe the Academy Francaise can sue them.

[Javaman]

15. I guess my hometown will be receiving a cease and desist letter soon. nt

[dkofos]

16. I hope some liberal laywer gets rich over this frivolous lawsuit.