Zynga and Bang With Friends settle trademark dispute

“We’re all friends here,” seems to be the thought for the day as reports have emerged that Zynga and Bang With Friends has finally settled

Nishtha Kanal|Oct 01, 2013, 11:42:08 IST

“We’re all friends here,” seems to be the thought for the day as reports have emerged that Zynga and Bang With Friends has finally settled their trademark lawsuit over the “With Friends” suffix.

Zynga and the makers of Bang With Friends seem to have made a settlement on Monday, court filings show, thereby ending an ongoing trademark infringement case that was fired by the gaming company this year. The court papers were revealed by AllThingsD and a spokesperson from Zynga confirmed the news to the publication.

Rebranding under way

“Zynga Inc. and Bang With Friends, Inc. are pleased that they have reached an amicable resolution of their dispute,” a Zynga Spokesperson said. “Although the terms of the settlement are confidential, Bang With Friends, Inc. acknowledges the trademark rights that Zynga has in its With Friends marks and will be changing its corporate name and rebranding its services in the near future.”

For those who’ve been living under a rock for a while, Zynga is the creator of games “With Friends”. The franchise includes the likes of Words With Friends, Scramble With Friends and more from the game maker. Bang With Friends, on the other hand, was an application that let users hook up with their Facebook friends discretely.

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The Spokesperson said that Bang With Friends has already started the rebranding process, details of which are now put up on TheNextBang.com.

Bang With Friends has been having more troubles with its name and contents besides its run-in with Zynga. The application was yanked off Apple’s App Store earlier this year, but no reason was given for it. It’s no secret that Apple is uncomfortable with anything remotely sexual in nature, but that’s a topic for another time. The application then made a comeback in late August, having been rechristened Down. No more “banging” for this modest application now. It’s now to be seen how the makers of this bold application will work their way around the “With Friends” suffix.

By Nishtha Kanal

Intrigued by all things social, Nishtha will invariably tweet about you. When not tweeting or writing about the next viral video, you will hear her proclaiming her love to Metallica, James Hetfield, Opeth, Akerfeldt and all bands that go 'growl'. She also obsesses about ACP Pradyuman and South Park and you will always find her moving around with a book. Her focus is on all the happening stuff in the tech domain, and she won't hesitate to take a shot at some of the oddball devices that make their way to our labs.