Digital Chocolate Sues Zynga

Digital Chocolate, the San Mateo, CA-based maker of casual games for Facebook and mobile phones, filed suit against San Francisco-based Zynga today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. According to a report in TG Daily, which reviewed a copy of Digital Chocolate’s complaint, the suit alleges that Digital Chocolate owns exclusive rights to the name “Mafia Wars,” which also happens to be the name of Zynga’s second most popular online game. Digital Chocolate, which was founded in 2003 by Electronic Arts founder and former CEO William “Trip” Hawkins, is seeking both an injunction that would prevent Zynga from using the name and a damage award, according to the report.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/