Those two Scrabulous developers have done a bit to try to avoid trademark disputes, and rebranded the game as “Wordscraper.”
The return came less than two days after the creators of Scrabulous blocked their popular version of the word game from U.S. and Canadian users of Facebook, the online hangout. The Indian brothers behind Scrabulous had gotten sued in federal court by Hasbro Inc., the owner of Scrabble’s North American rights.
Now, the game has reappeared with the name Wordscraper. The change could help it avoid any brand confusion with Scrabble, a key point in trademark disputes.
The game itself has also changed. Instead of Scrabble-like square tiles, for instance, Wordscraper has circles. The tiles earning double and triple points have been rearranged, and tiles for quadruple points have been added.
Whether those design changes will protect the creators from claims of copyright infringement remains to be seen.
Ideas cannot be copyrighted, but expressions of ideas can. The case could turn on whether Wordscraper feels more like Scrabble or a generic board game based on words.
Smart move.