Casually Hardcore devlog

Scrabulous – an issue of trademark infringement

January 16th, 2008

On Facebook, couple of people have invited me to a game of Scrabulous which from the name, I thought was a variant of Scrabble… supported by Hasbro or EA.

However that is not the case – Hasbro has sent a cease and desist letter to the developers, Zygna. The way trademark laws are written and have been rule on, Hasbro has to sue to protect their trademark to prevent abandonment or it becoming generic.

At the core of the issue is the use the name Scrabble-like name in a product that is too similar to the original. Copying the gameplay itself is not illegal as there are plenty of Scrabble clones but trademark dilution and trademark infringement can strip Hasbro of their IP rights to Scrabble. Trademark laws are funny that way – you must vigorously sue others that potentially infringe on your trademark so that the court sees that you are actively using the trademark. Unlike copyright, trademarks must be actively used to be valid. With copyright, the creator maintains ownership regardless if the IP is being used or not.

Note, using a Scrabble-like name in a product that is NOTHING like the board game is also legal. Scrabulous could be an egg-white alternative and pass the “legal muster test.”

Entry Filed under: Game Development