By John Letzing
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

A company called Hob Knob LLC has alleged Zynga Inc. misappropriated trade secrets and used them to launch the Zynga Direct service last month, a development that comes as the social-gaming firm gears up for a widely anticipated initial public offering of shares.

In a complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Hob Knob says Zynga signed a nondisclosure agreement in February, enabling it to review Hob Knob's proprietary information with the intention of either buying Hob Knob's technology or partnering with the firm.

Florida-based Hob Knob says Zynga ultimately said it wasn't interested in the technology, only to later use Hob Knob's trade secrets to help it launch Zynga Direct in violation of the NDA.

The Zynga Direct service, which saw a high-profile unveiling last month, is seen as a key means for Zynga to independently distribute its games to users.

San Francisco-based Zynga currently depends to a large extent on closely held Facebook Inc. to distribute popular games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars among the social-networking service's users.

In order to continue reading the complete article from - WSJ, please click here.