Candy Crush creator abandons 'candy' trademark efforts (update)

King, the developer behind Candy Crush Saga, has abandoned its efforts to trademark the word "candy," according to documents posted by the U.S. Trademark Office.

Signed on Feb. 24, the document states "the applicant hereby expressly abandons the application for trademark registration made." King filed a trademark application Feb. 6, 2013 and was approved on Jan. 15, 2014. If approved by the assigning attorney, such a trademark allows the developer exclusive rights to use the word in apparel, video games, computer hardware and more.

We've reached out to King and the attorney of record for comment and will update accordingly.

In response to the trademark, developers banded together for the Candy Jam, which asked participants to make a game involving candies while using words such as candy, scroll, memory and saga.

Previous trademark disputes concerning King over the word "saga" resulted in a negative outpouring from developer Stoic concerning its Banner Saga series. In response, King said that though it was not trying to disrupt the developer's future content, it needed to "take all appropriate steps to protect our IP, both now and in the future."

For more on what King's candy trademark means, check out our in-depth story. A discussion of whether or not King could legally trademark the term candy is also available on Friends List.

Update: A spokesperson for King provided Polygon with the following statement:

"King has withdrawn its trademark application for Candy in the U.S., which we applied for in February 2013 before we acquired the early rights to Candy Crusher. Each market that King operates in is different with regard to IP. We feel that having the rights to Candy Crusher is the best option for protecting Candy Crush in the U.S. market. This does not affect our E.U. trademark for Candy and we continue to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP."