Munchkin Master has been hit with an infringement complaint by Steven Jackson Games over the use of the word Munchkin.

I will have to remove the application from the marketplace, but will be resubmitting it under the name Character Master. I apologize to all those who downloaded Munchkin Master, and at this point I am unsure if you will have to download Character Master or if I will be able to just update Munchkin Master with the new bits as an update.

To those other apps who use the name Munchkin take my case as a warning and update your application before you too are hit with an infringement notice.

I looked up the trademark claim under the United States Patent and Trademark Office hoping that I would be able to dispute their claim. They have two claims the listings can be found here and here.

The listing filed under Interactive multimedia computer game programs is the one that I am infringeing upon. Since my application is not a computer game program I could dispute the claim, but it wouldn’t matter in the end.

While trademark law’s ‘goods and services’ stipulation allows companies to use the same trademark in different industries my application is arguably related to interactive multimedia computer game programs, and therefore may confuse consumers as to the source. At least that’s how I interpret standing trademark law.

It sucks, but hopefully my solution will please all parties.