Nyan Cat creator Christopher Orlando Torres and Keyboard Cat's owner Charles Schmidt have filed a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit against Warner Bros. and 5th Cell over their creations' appearances in the Scribblenauts series.
The complaint, filed on April 22nd, alleges that developer 5th Cell did not seek permission to include either copyrighted character in their published products or in related promotional material. The original Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat videos have each been viewed tens of millions of times on YouTube, making them "extremely valuable for commercial uses," according to the complaint.
"Plaintiffs claim that Warner Bros and 5th Cell's trademark infringement was willful and intentional and are requesting an award of treble damages and requesting the case be deemed exception under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), thereby entitling Plaintiffs to an award of reasonable attorneys' fees," intellectual property-focused attorney blog Milord & Associates notes.
Plaintiffs Schmidt and Torres additionally seek an injunction against the sale of Scribblenauts products until the matter is resolved.
The Scribblenauts series allows players to summon a wide variety of memes during gameplay, for both practical purposes and comedic effect. Keyboard Cat has appeared in every series entry to date, while Nyan Cat is a more recent addition, appearing only in Scribblenauts Unlimited.
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