A new Facebook game called BlingVille has apparently pissed off Zynga, the company behind hits FarmVille and CityVille , because it uses the ‘ Ville ‘ suffix. Zynga – like the schoolyard bully it is – is preparing to take BlingVille developer BlingVille LLC to court, and wants to trademark the ‘Ville’ syllable.
BlingVille LLC has already received a cease and desist letter from those Zynga charmers, but to its credit is fighting back, despite Zynga’s size. The smaller company instantly filed a letter to the West Virginia U.S. District Court, requesting a declaration from the court that BlingVille doesn’t infringe on Zynga’s trademarks.
All in all, it’s a pretty scummy, trademark hog move from Zynga, a company that’s not exactly known for it’s original ideas; isn’t that right, Mark Pincus ?
[Via GamePolitics]