IDGA homes in on King.com's "predatory" IP filing

The Candy Crush Saga developer has come under investigation for trademarking the words "candy" and "saga" and going after other games.

The International Game Developers Association (IDGA) has stepped into the King.com debate and will be investigating the developer's trademarking activities, the association has announced in a statement on its website, calling King's actions "predatory".

Earlier this year, it was revealed that King.com had filed for trademarkson the words "candy" and "saga", filing a trademark dispute with now-12-month-old Viking strategy game Banner Saga.

Not long after, another developer revealed that King.com had paid a third developer to clone one of his games. Yet another developer also came forward, Albert Ransom, who in 2010 released a game called CandySwipe, claiming that King.com had copied his game.

The IDGA said in its statement:

While we understand and respect the appropriate exercise of Trademark rights, King's overreaching filing in its application for the Trademark for its game "Candy Crush Saga," and its predatory efforts to apply that mark to each separate word contained in that name, are in opposition to the values of openness and cooperation we support industry wide, and directly contradict the statement King's CEO, Riccardo Zacconi, made on 27 January. Our Business and Legal Special Interest Group will be providing a more comprehensive analysis of this issue from its perspective soon.

Zacconi had previously said, "We believe in a thriving game development community, and believe that good game developers — both small and large — have every right to protect the hard work they do and the games they create."

This week, King.com filed for IPO, revealing that the company generated US$1.9 million in revenue last year, earning a profit of US$567.6 million.