Intellectual property rights are important to many people. Companies go to extreme lengths to protect themselves and their intellectual property from theft. Most companies have their names trademarked, as well as the names of their products.

Facebook has a trademark on the word “Home.” Paris Hilton has a trademark on the phrase, “That’s hot,” which she has had to defend in court. Celebrities commonly trademark their own names.

King.com, the maker of the popular iOS game Candy Crush Saga, takes its intellectual property rights very seriously. In the name of scaring away those who might copy its game, it recently submitted a trademark application for the words “Candy” and “Saga” and the phrase “Candy Crush Saga.” The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in addition to the European Union, has approved its request.

Legal action has already been taken against movie studios and independent developers for using “Candy” and “Saga,” the most notable being the legal action taken against Stoic, LLC. King.com filed opposition of Stoic, LLC’s use of the word “saga” in the trademark request for the name of its game, “The Banner Saga.” King.com claims that there will be confusion between the products, Candy Crush Saga and The Banner Saga, when in reality one is about candy and the other is a role-playing game. All they have in common is one word in the titles.

According to trademark law, 30 days are allowed for opposition to be filed against the trademarks granted. Maybe someone should look into it, because if they are going by federal law, specifically the latest amended version of the Federal Trademark Act of 1946, King.com would have to show that to the best of its knowledge and belief, no other person has the right to use such mark in commerce either in identical form thereof or in such near resemblance, something that would be hard for King.com to prove.

King.com also might need to prove that it has exclusively used the words it chose to trademark, in this case both “Candy” and “Saga,” for at least five years prior to the trademark request.
Hopefully this doesn’t signal a trend of very broad and general trademarks being filed in the next few years.