San Francisco, Calif. — Google can’t seem to stay out of the news lately, but Zynga added one more reason for that state of affairs. The social game company filed suit against Google that involves the search engine giant into Zynga’s ongoing legal battles with competing social game company Vostu.
Zynga apparently involved Google because it is an investor in Brazilian market-leading social network Orkut, which hosts the Vostu games that Zynga says are rip-offs.
A judge in Brazil granted a preliminary injunction against Vostu, and ordered Orkut to remove four games within 48 hours or pay a fine of nearly $13,000.
This all started back in June when Zynga complained Vostu had replicated its game design layouts, game mechanics, game objects and storyline, and even provided a side-by-side screenshot of both company’s game — aiming to prove their claim. Vostu responded, claiming the company not only copied other games but also cannot sue for common objects such as chairs, farms and city buildings.
Then Vostu filed a countersuit against Zynga— filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California — that the two had entered into talks last year of wanting to form a partnerhship that never happened.
Vostu has become the largest online gaming network in Latin America, with more than 35 million registered users in Brazil alone.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4yrdtlm (TechCrunch)
http://tinyurl.com/3mqxk4e (New York Times)
