Zynga Tells CupidWithFriends To Stop Using ‘With Friends’ (opens in new tab)

I think it'd be one thing if we were a gaming company and used a thought bubble with the same look and design that Zynga uses for their With Friends family of marks, but there's no possibility of confusion there and on top of that, we don't operate in the same space. We're a dating startup. CupidForFriends.com is taken otherwise we would have just switched and 301 redirected.

They built a business copying scrabble.

Whatever the legal merits of protecting a name verses protecting a game, they get exactly zero sympathy from me for their intellectual property claims.

Yeah I'm conflicted on this one. I'm usually very much against such things but in this case it's just more likely than not that they made the name in light of the popularity of the "X With Friends" apps. On the other hand though it's such a general trademark using a common phrase. Very tough to decide.

I think since dating sites fall into the entertainment category that it's surprisingly legitimate.

First time I saw Cupid With Friends mentioned here on HN, I immediately thought of Zynga. I'm not saying I actually thought they had anything to do with Zynga whatsoever, but the naming connection was immediate.

Their claim is that it'll cause confusion, but my thoughts are: if you're going to trademark a common English phrase, you should be prepared to deal with some amount of confusion. People have been doing stuff with friends before Zynga came along.

No, "Fuck USPTO"