In you-totally-saw-this-coming news, Zynga has filed a lawsuit against Facebook-based sex app Bang with Friends. They claim that the name infringes upon their trademark for their series of “…with Friends” games.
Zynga, of course, makes a bunch of “…with friends” games including Words with Friends, Chess with Friends, Hanging with Friends, Gems with Friends, and Scramble with Friends.
Bang with Friends first launched back in January, and it’s described as “the anonymous, simple, fun way to find
friends who are down for the night.” The way it works is pretty simple. You load up the app, connect to Facebook, and select any number of friends that you would like the have sex with. This information stays hidden – unless your friend also uses the app and has selected you as a possible sex partner. If that’s the case, Bang with Friends will send each person an email letting them know that they want to bang each other.
You can use Bang with Friends on the web or on Android – Apple’s App Store banned the app back in May.
Last month, Bang with Friends CEO Colin Hodge said that the app has over a million users and has facilitated over 200,000 hookups.
According to Bloomberg, Zynga claims that the app makers “selected the name ‘Bang With Friends’ for its casual sex matchmaking app with Zynga’s game trademarks fully in mind.”
Zynga is seeking a ruling that will prevent the app from using the “with Friends” phrase, as well as unspecified damages.