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Defendant.LarryW.McFarland(BarNo.129668)E-Mail:lmcfarland@kmwlaw.comDennisWilson(BarNo.155407)2E-Mail:dwilson@kmwlaw.comDavid
K.
Caplan(BarNo.181174)E-Mail:dcaplan@kmwlaw.comChristopherT.Varas(BarNo.25708.0)
n
MAY-
if
2012
4E-Mail:cvaras@kmwlaw.com
'L:~:f\\\n~
KEATSMcFARLAND
&
WILSU$L~P
RICHARDW.WIEKJNG
9720WilshireBoulevard
NCLERK,U.S.DISTRICTCOURT
PenthouseSuite
ORTHERN
D~I~r;Js~~
ALIFORNIA
6BeverlyHills,California90212Telephone:(310)248-38307Facsimile:(310)860-0363UNITED.STATESDISTRICTCOURTNORTHERNDISTRICTOFCALIFORNIASANFRANCISCODIVISION
3
58AttorneysforPlaintiffZYNGAINC.91011121314ZYNGAINC.,aDelawareCorporation,1516Plaintiff,17
v.
18KOBOJOSAS,aFrenchbusinessentity,.19202122232425262728
CASENO.
1l01.2'\I;TQO~
236
(1)TRADEMARKINFRINGEMENTUNDER15U.S.C.
§
1114(1);(2)TRADEMARKINFRINGEMENTUNDER15U.S.C.
§
112S(a);(3)FALSEDESIGNATIONOFORIGINUNDER15U.S.c.
§
1115(a);(4)FEDERALDILUTIONUNDER15U.S.C.
§
112S(c);(5)CALIFORNIADILUTIONUNDERCAL.BUS.
&
PROF.CODE
§
14247(6)CALIFORNIACOMMONLAWTRADEMARKINFRINGEMENT;(7)CALIFORNIACOMMONLAWPASSINGOFFANDUNFAIRCOMPETITION;(8)VIOLATIONOFCAL.BUS.
&
PROF.CODE
§
17200;
Filed
DEMANDFORJURYTRIAL
HRL
CASENO._COMPLAINT
 
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PlaintiffZyngaInc.("Zynga")bringsthisComplaintagainstDefendantKobojoSAS("Defendant")forinjunctivereliefanddamagesunderthelawsoftheUnitedStatesandtheStateofCalifornia.SummaryoftheCaseandAllegationsCommontoAllCausesofAction
1.
ThiscaseinvolvesthewillfulviolationofZynga'strademarkrightsbyacompetitorseekingtoexploitZynga'shard-earnedreputationinthesocialgamingspace.2.Zyngaistheworld'slargestsocialgamingcompanyandisthepremierpublisherofsocialgames.Zynga'sgamesareavailableonsocialnetworkingplatformssuchasFacebook,aswellasonmobileplatformssuchasAndroidandApple'siOS(incorporatedintoApple'siPhoneandiPadproducts).3.Sinceitwasfoundedin2007,Zyngahascreatedandpublishedtheworld'smostsuccessfulsocialgames,includingitsfamousfamilyof'VILLEgames.Thesegamesinclude,butarenotlimitedto,CASTLEVILLETM,CITYVILLE®,FARMVILLE®,FISHVILLE®,FRONTIERVILLETM,PETVILLE®andYOVILLE®(collectivelythe'''VILLEFamilyofGames".)Thenamesandrespectivetrademarksofthe'VILLEFamilyofGamesareallegedindetailbelow,andarecollectivelyreferredtohereinasthe'''VILLEFamilyofMarks".4.Zynga's'VILLEFamilyofGamesconsistsofthemostpopularonlineandmobilegamesintheworld.Forexample,thesocialgamingsiteAppDatareportedinJanuary2012,thatZynga'sCITYVILLE®wasthemost-playedgameonFacebookwithmorethan49,000,000monthlyactiveusers.AsofthetimeofAppData'sreporting,Zynga'sCASTLEVILLETMwasinsecondplacewithmorethan35,000,000monthlyactiveusers.Zynga'sFARMVILLE®wasinthirdplacewithmorethan33,000,000monthlyactiveusers.Atthesametime,severalofZynga'sother'VILLEgamesalsocontinuedtohavemorethan1,000,000monthlyactiveusers-e.g.,PETVILLE®had2,000,000monthlyactiveusers,YOVILLE®andFISHVILLE®eachhadmorethan1,500,000monthlyactiveusers,andFRONTIERVILLETMhadmorethan1,000,000monthlyactiveusers.Insum,morethan100,000,000peopleplayZynga'sfamous'VILLEFamilyofGameseverymonthonFacebookandothersocialwebsitesandmobileplatforms.
-1-
CASENO.
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COMPLAINT
 
15.Zyngahasconsistentlypromotedthe'VILLEFamilyofGamestogetherasafamily,
2.
identifiedbythedistinctive'VILLEsuffix.Amongotherthings,Zyngahasadvertisedthe'VILLE3FamilyofGamesonZynga.comandFacebookusingsuchslogansas"Welcometothehomeof4Zynga's
vuu"
games,""Zynga-homeoftheVille,""What'syourVille?"and"JointheVille5Family."Zyngahaspromotedthe'VILLEFamilyofGamestomillionsofpotentialconsumers6throughadvertisementsandpromotions.AsaresultofZynga'sextensivemarketingeffortsandthe7unmatchedsuccessofits'VILLEFamilyofGames,Facebookusersandotherusersofonlinesocial8gamesthroughouttheUnitedStateshavecometoassociateimmediatelythedistinctive'VILLE9FamilyofMarkswithZynga.106.Zynga'sgamescompeteonwebsitesandmobileplatformswithhundredsofsocial
11
games.Unfortunately,followingthesuccessofthe'VILLEFamilyofGames,anumberofentities12haveattemptedtoadoptnamesthatcombineawordthatconnotestheparticulargame'stheme,on13theonehand,withthedistinctiveandfamous'VILLEsuffix,ontheother.Suchentitiesthereby14seektousenamesthatwillconfuseconsumers,tradeoffofZynga'spopularity,andexploitthe15goodwillZyngahasdevelopedinthe'VILLEFamilyofMarks.Zyngahasdiligentlypolicedits16rightsinthe'VILLEFamilyofMarksagainstsuchwould-beinfringers,includingthroughtheuseof17cease-and-desistlettersand,wherenecessary,byinstitutingoppositionproceedingswiththeUnited18StatesPatentandTrademarkOffice'sTrademarkTrialandAppealBoard.197.Defendantisnodifferentfromtheseotherinfringers.Followingthelaunchesand20phenomenalsuccessesofZynga'sCITYVILLE®,FARMVILLE®,FISHVILLE®,21FRONTIERVILLETM,PETVILLE®andYOVILLE®games,DefendantdevelopedanEgyptian-
22
themedsocialgameandchosetocallitPYRAMIDVILLE.Notsurprisingly,PYRAMIDVILLE23alreadyhasdrawncomparisonstoseveralgameswithinZynga's'VILLEFamilyofGames.248.TherecanbenoquestionthatDefendantwasfullyawareofZynga'ssuccessand25Zynga's'VILLEFamilyofGamespriortoselectingthenameforitssimilarlythemedgame.For26example,oninformationandbelief,morethanoneofDefendant'sprincipalshadinstalledand27playedvariousgameswithinZynga's'VILLEFamilyofGamespriortothereleaseof28PYRAMIDVILLE.
-2-
CASENO.
----=--::-::-~-c-==
COMPLAINT
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