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Tag: bang with friends

  • Bang with Friends, Zynga Settle Trademark Suit

    Casual hook-up app Bang with Friends is probably not going to be called Bang with Friends for much longer, as it has reached a settlement with Zynga that will involve a “rebranding” effort.

    “Zynga Inc. and Bang With Friends, Inc. are pleased that they have reached an amicable resolution of their dispute,” a Zynga spokesperson told AllThingsD. “Although the terms of the settlement are confidential, Bang With Friends, Inc. acknowledges the trademark rights that Zynga has in its WITH FRIENDS marks and will be changing its corporate name and rebranding its services in the near future.”

    Back in July, Zynga filed a lawsuit against Bang with Friends, claiming trademark infringement. They said that the app, which allows people to find Facebook friends that want to “hook up,” anonymously, knowingly infringed upon their games – which include Words with Friends, Chess with Friends, Hanging with Friends, Gems with Friends, and Scramble with Friends.

    The Zynga spokesperson also pointed in the direction of a new site, TheNextBang.com.

    “The next Bang with Friends is coming,” says the barebones sites. It also offers an email signup list. “Here come the best invention since yoga pants – let’s get down.”

    The word “down” is emphasized here, because it already has some significance in the world of Bang with Friends. Last month, Bang with Friends finally returned to Apple’s App Store after being banned for months – but the app returned with a bit of rebranding. It was simple called “Down.”

    No word yet on what the new Bang with Friends app will be called. As of right now, BangWithFriends.com still exists, as does the Android app (under the name Bang with Friends).

    Images via Bang with Friends, The Next Bang

  • Bang with Friends Returns to the App Store as ‘Down’

    When hook-up app Bang with Friends launched in January as a Facebook app, they described it as “the anonymous, simple, fun way to find friends who are down for the night.” The app allowed users to anonymously select which of their Facebook buddies they’d be willing to have sex with, and if the feeling is mutual then Bang with Friends would let each party know about it.

    Soon, Bang with Friends had both Android and iOS apps – but not for long. In May, Apple’s App Store banned Bang with Friends in a move that nobody could have been that surprised to hear given Apple’s history of yanking anything sexually explicit or even sexually suggestive.

    Now, a few months later, Bang with Friends is back in the App Store with a bit of rebranding. Now it’s simply called “Down”

    Bang with Friends’ relaunch as “Down” in the iOS App Store is a quiet one – no mention of it on the official Bang with Friends Twitter or Facebook pages. But there’s no mistaking its return.

    The updated app from Bang with Friends Inc. features a 17+ age rating and doesn’t have any mentions of the word “bang” or anything. No, to pass Apple’s puritanical App Store requirements, “Down” had to be discreet. Now, users are “Up to hang” instead of DTF.

    It’s at least possible that the name change had something to do with the recent lawsuit that Words with Friends creators Zynga filed against Bang with Friends for trademark infringement – but the Bang with Friends name hasn’t changed anywhere else. It’s likely that this was simply their way of working their way back into the App Store.

    Bang Hang away, people.

    Image via Bang with Friends

  • Bang with Friends Sued by Zynga for Trademark Infringement

    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.