A UK High Court has ruled that social networking firm Zynga’s Scramble With Friends word game does not infringe on Mattel’s Scrabble trademark.
Mattel had argued that the Zynga’s use of ‘Scramble’ was very close to its word ‘Scrabble’, but Justice Peter Smith ruled in Zynga’s favour.
"Zynga’s use of a curly leter M on its side gives the impression that the word is Scrabble when one looks at it quickly and has the propensity to confuse," Smith added.
Mattel spokesman Alan Hilowitz was cited by the BBC as saying that the English High Court affirmed Mattel’s request for an injunction against Zynga, finding that the similarities between their Scramble With Friends logo and Mattel’s intellectual property likely to confuse the public into thinking they were in fact downloading Scrabble.
"We are, however, disappointed that the court did not rule that Zynga should cease using the Scramble name, which Mattel intends to appeal," Hilowitz said.
In October 2013, the lower court ruled that Mattel’s complaint forms part of an attempt to claim a perpetual monopoly on all conceivable ivory-coloured tile shapes, which accepts any letter and number combination on the top surface.
The appellate court also agreed to the lower court’s ruling and ruled that the company’s allegations would offer ‘unfair competitive advantage.’
Zynga’s Q3 revenue dropped 36% to $203m and its bookings also dropped by 42% to $152m for the quarter, compared to the corresponding quarter last year.
The struggling game maker has also chopped about 18 gaming titles, and several executives have also left the company, which has trimmed down its market value by 70% since 2011.
