Hasbro sues the creator of Scrabulous program on Facebook
Networks July 25th, 2008
Hasbro sues the creator of Scrabulous program on Facebook
Hasbro owns the rights to the game Scrabble in North America. They have now filed a lawsuit against the developers of the game Scrabulous on Facebook.
This comes just two weeks after the company launched an ‘official’ version of Scrabble on the Facebook social network.
Hasbro is claiming in this lawsuit that Scrabulous is violating their trademarks and copyrights.
They have also asked Facebook to block the game from their service which is based in USA.
Scrabulous is one of the most popular third party applications on the Facebook network. The official version has till now failed to generate enough buzz.
The lawsuit is filed against Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla who are based in India along with their company RJ Softwares.
Tags: Facebook, Hasbro, India, Jayant Agarwalla, North America, Rajat Agarwalla, RJ Softwares, Scrabble, Scrabulous
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As an independent board game publisher (www.gifttrap.com/) and I’ve noticed there are very few real physical “board game” apps on Facebook and if the games exist they are by small companies just like Scrabulous, ie copies.
In fact I made a list here
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/31999/item/671822#item671822
(You may need to be a member to see this, but I’ve connected all the main board games to their Facebook apps)
It includes Othello, Trivial Pursuit, Connect Four, Risk, Diplomacy, Pictionary, Blokus, Boggle
The likes of Mattel and Hasbro have just missed the whole social thing, that is until someone made it successful.
I publish a board game called GiftTRAP that’s voted “best party game” by Games Magazine and Creative Child Magazine. I’d got crazy for this much exposure.
Right now I’d be delighted if someone has been promoting my game to the extent Scrabulous has promoted Scrabble.
I’ve even created a Facebook app in the vein of Free Gifts, but getting your social app moving is no mean feat. Hasbro has only managed 10k users with al the noise on the web about scrabulous.
If you are interested in Facebook apps check out http://apps.new.facebook.com/gifttrap/
Unlike the Free Gifts app your friend gets to choose their own gift, the question is will you match.
The board game is on sale in Barnes and Noble right now which is pretty cool (no doubt next to Scrabble). I’m just a few million copies behind them! Ah well.
The fact that Scrabulous is succesful I guess gave Hasbro and Mattel no other option than to sue, it’s also no doubt driven sales for Scrabble. What would they have paid a PR company to generate this much noise?
I’m amazed a deal hasn’t been done for undisclosed sum. The problem is the scrabulous traffic as calculated on http://adonomics.com/ is worth at $2.7m
Now those figures are inflated, but it must make it hard to accept a deal from Hasbro or Mattel when you read about there sorts of numbers.
The split ownership must also make it much harder for them to do a deal. It means you they get twice as many lawyers to deal with.
What’s surprised me most is that Scrabulous haven’t added to their apps portfolio while they can.
What’s surprised me most is that Scrabulous haven’t added to their apps portfolio while they can.
They are the top game on Facebook they should have been planning for this day
As an independent board game publisher ( http://www.gifttrap.com/ ) I’ve noticed there are very few real physical “board game” apps on Facebook and if the games exist they are by small companies just like Scrabulous, ie copies.
It includes Othello, Trivial Pursuit, Connect Four, Risk, Diplomacy, Pictionary, Blokus, Boggle. Here’s a full list;
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/31999/item/671822#item671822
(You may need to be a member to see this, but I’ve connected all the main board games to their Facebook apps)
The likes of Mattel and Hasbro have just missed the whole social thing, until someone made it successful.
I publish a board game called GiftTRAP that’s voted “best party game” by Games Magazine and Creative Child Magazine. I’d got crazy for this much exposure.
Right now I’d be delighted if someone has been promoting my game to the extent Scrabulous has promoted Scrabble.
Isnt’ Scrabulous just a better Mouse Trap – they didn’t copy an online version as Scrabble didn’t have one. There were other copies too and I bet they aren’t being sued.
To promote GiftTRAP, we’ve led the way by creating a Facebook app in the vein of Free Gifts, but getting your social app moving is no mean feat. Hasbro has only managed 10k users with al the noise on the web about Scrabulous.
Our game precedes Free Gifts, but you can’t fight the viral nature and you’ve got to be first on the right platform.
If you are interested in Facebook apps check out;
http://apps.new.facebook.com/gifttrap/
Unlike the Free Gifts app your friend gets to choose their own gift, the question is will you match. We have turned virtual gifts into a game.
The GiftTRAP board game is on sale in Barnes and Noble right now which is pretty cool (no doubt next to Scrabble). I’m just a few million copies behind them! Ah well we are doing well in the real world.
The fact that Scrabulous is successful I guess gave Hasbro and Mattel no other option than to sue.
What’s hard to swallow is no doubt Scrabulous has reinvigorated sales for Scrabble. What would they have paid a PR company to generate this much noise?
I’m amazed a deal hasn’t been done for undisclosed sum. The problem is the Scrabulous traffic as calculated on http://adonomics.com/ is worth at $2.7m
Now those figures are inflated, but it must make it hard to accept a deal from Hasbro or Mattel when you read about these sorts of numbers.
The split ownership must also make it much harder for them to do a deal.