Zynga sues developers of Bang With Friends (updated)

Social games developer Zynga sued the creator of the casual sex networking iOS and Android app Bang With Friends for infringing upon Zynga's trademark of "with friends" games, Bloomberg reports.

"Zynga filed a lawsuit to stop blatant infringement of its valuable 'With Friends' brand," Renée Lawson, Zynga deputy general counsel said in a prepared statement. "A company calling itself 'Bang with Friends' — whose own founders played Zynga's 'With Friends' games — decided to gain attention for its sex-related app by leveraging Zynga's well-known mark. Zynga is compelled to file suit to prevent further consumer confusion and protect its intellectual property rights against infringement."

The complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco yesterday, and obtained by Polygon, states that Bang With Friends infringes upon Zynga's trademark covering games such as Words With Friends and Chess With Friends. The company is seeking a court order to stop the Bang With Friends developer from using the name for social networking apps within the U.S..

It was reported yesterday that Zynga lost three executives this month, including John Osvald, senior vice president of games, Nathan Etter, vice president of games and Jesse Janosov, vice president of Zynga's casino division. Earlier this month, former president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, Don Mattrick, left the software giant to take up position as Zynga's CEO. The company recently revealed its second quarter financial results, showing a $15.8 million loss for the three month period ended June 30.

Updated: This article was updated with Zynga's comments.