According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "candy" as we know it today gained usage in the 15th century, but King Inc., the company behind the captivating Candy Crush smartphone game, has just recently trademarked it, reports Gamezebo.
King now has the legal groundwork to push around other entities that it deems to be infringing its trademark when it comes to mobile games.
King has already sicced the dogs of IP law on one Ben Hsu. He's the developer behind All Candy Casino Slots, a slot machine iPhone app that makes use of candy in its game mechanics. Hsu got the following message from King's crusading legal team:
"Your use of CANDY SLOTS in your app icon uses our CANDY trademark exactly, for identical goods, which amounts to trademark infringement and is likely to lead to consumer confusion and damage to our brand."
King is pushing for Hsu to withdraw his app from iTunes.
King has responded to all this, saying it wouldn't ask developers to remove games from iTunes if the word "candy" was being used legitimately. "We don't enforce against all uses of CANDY - some are legitimate and of course, we would not ask app developers who use the term legitimately to stop doing so," the company said.