Zynga, maker of FarmVille, CityVille and other popular social games, has filed a trademark lawsuit against Kobojo, a startup based in France that makes a game called PyramidVille.
Zynga says the game is being confused for one of its own, and the company asks the court to put a stop to it and award damages.
The lawsuit sets up an interesting legal battle. Zynga has trademarked the names of individual titles of in its ‘Ville Family of Games, but as noted by the Justia law blog, the company’s attempt to trademark Ville by itself has been put on hold by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The Next Web reports that Kobojo has ties to Microsoft, participating in the company’s startup programs. The company’s co-founder and former CEO, Vincent Vergonjeanne, was previously at Microsoft Research.
“Defendant’s awareness of Zynga and Zynga’s ‘VILLE Family of Games, and deliberate attempt to trade off Zynga’s success, is further evidenced by Defendant’s adoption of a logo that itself evokes the logos that Zynga uses for several of its ‘VILLE Family of Games,” write lawyers for Zynga in the suit.
