Is it okay to use "with friends" in game name

[J.O.Y]

Hello,

I plan to name my game "Blocks with friends" but I wonder whether I can use "with friends" phrase.
Could any one help me to answer?

Thanks,
Giang Anh

[SimianSquared]

No.

Zynga holds the trademark on the words "With Friends" in the software category.

[Rainier]

Zynga will have a lot of people to sue, because there are numerous apps on the App Store with the "with friends" tag added to them to capture the overflow of searches for the term. Have a look, and you'll find a lot.

[SimianSquared]

They're being busy at that right now but fargo is having a laugh - imho it's better to avoid the entire fiasco. A quick google reveals all.

[Rainier]

I'd prefer to steer clear of any potential legal headaches as well. The risk reward payoff isn't good.

[ThreeCubes]

Well actually I don't think they would have a strong case and you can pretty much trade mark anything that has a different word in front of the with friends. Zinga don't have rights to every sentence ending with friends. Anyway they might try and scare you so just use

Blocks with Buddies


It's sounds much better anyway

[MidianGTX]

Originally Posted by ThreeCubes

Blocks with Buddies

The exact same name sprung to my mind before I even got down to this post, so it must be a good one

[EvilArev]

Following one of the episodes of The Big Bang Theory: Blocks With Acquaintances.


Yeah, that would be a terrible title to search for in the AppStore.

[SimianSquared]

Cockblocks without friends?

[PikPok]

Originally Posted by ThreeCubes

Well actually I don't think they would have a strong case and you can pretty much trade mark anything that has a different word in front of the with friends. Zinga don't have rights to every sentence ending with friends.

That is not how trademarks work. Trademarks are "fuzzy" in that infringement can be justified if consumer confusion can be proven, even if the marks involved don't explicitly infringe.

And I imagine that "Blocks with Friends" is only being considered in the first place because the dev hopes to profit from consumer confusion with existing Zynga products.

Create your own brand. It will be worth more in the long run.