Zynga Sues ‘Bang With Friends’ App Over Trademark Violations

SAN FRANCISCO—Casual game maker Zynga filed suit in federal court in San Francisco yesterday, alleging trademark infringement by Bang With Friends Inc., makers of a casual sex matchmaking application of the same name that allegedly infringes on Zynga’s “with friends” games. The complaint alleges that the defendants knew exactly what they was doing, and “selected the name ‘Bang With Friends’ for its casual sex matchmaking app with Zynga’s game trademarks fully in mind,” according to Bloomberg. The suit also alleges that Zynga games impacted by the infringement include “Words With Friends” and “Chess With Friends.” In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, the company’s deputy general counsel, Renee Lawson, stated, “Zynga filed a lawsuit to stop blatant infringement of its valuable ‘With Friends’ brand. Zynga is compelled to file suit to prevent further consumer confusion and protect its intellectual property rights against infringement.” Bang With Friends also replied with an emailed comment: “As a technology company, we take intellectual property seriously, and will evaluate the case in detail once we receive a copy.” Once riding high as the preeminent maker of casual games played by untold millions of people on Facebook, Zynga’s stock has fallen 70 percent since its December 2011 IPO.