Projo Biz Blog

Toymaker Hasbro Inc. filed suit in federal court today against the two brothers who created Scrabulous -- a wildly popular online version of Scrabble.

In a separate notice to Facebook, Pawtucket-based Hasbro also alleges that the social-networking site is infringing on the toymaker's copyright for hosting the Scrabulous game. Hasbro requested Facebook block the Scrabulous game application from the network's users in the United States and Canada as soon as possible.

"Hasbro has an obligation to act appropriately against infringement of our intellectual properties," said Barry Nagler, Hasbro's general counsel. "We view the Scrabulous application as clear and blatant infringement of our Scrabble intellectual property, and we are pursuing this legal action in accordance with the interests of our shareholders, and the integrity of the Scrabble brand."

Hasbro owns the rights to distribute Scrabble in the United States and Canada, while Mattel owns the rights to distribute it elsewhere.

The lawsuit comes about a year after two brothers in Calcutta, India, launched their own version of the game as an application on the popular Facebook social-networking site.

The introduction of Scrabulous, created by Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, prompted legal threats from Hasbro and Mattel Inc. Hasbro has now followed through on its threat, naming brothers Rajat and Jayant Argarwalla and RJ Softwares as the defendants in the lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The filing follows the launch earlier this month of Hasbro's own version of Scrabble for social-networking sites. Mattel launched its own online version of Scrabble in March.

Hasbro's online Scrabble game is among the first the toymaker has licensed for such usage. Hasbro (HAS:NYSE) developed its newest version of Scrabble in conjunction with California-based Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS:NASDAQ). The game is set to launch this month on Facebook and Pogo.com.

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