This week Hartz Mountain, a maker of pet toys, requested a federal judge
dismiss a lawsuit by Seattle artist Juli Adams regarding the sale of her intellectual property without her permission or knowledge. The case is notable because Adams' designs were the basis of the characters now universally known as "Angry Birds," a name originally suggested by Adams and since used widely by Rovio and Hartz to market both the video game sensation and ancillary merchandise. The judge has refused to dismiss the matter.
Years before the video game made by Rovio brought the "Angry Birds" characters into the mainstream, Adams signed a five-year licensing agreement with Hartz in 2006. Hartz then used the agreement to establish a US trademark for "Angry Birds" as it applied to pet toys. As a result, several years later Rovio was unable to make plush pet toys in the US because Hartz Mountain owned that trademark. Hartz later entered into a deal with Rovio to sell them the trademark for the pet toys, without Adams' knowledge.
The production of Adams' designs was halted three years into the five-year agreement, but Hartz asked the judge to toss the lawsuit because it, and not Adams, owned the trademark under the original agreement. Adams is now suing Hartz for allegedly cheating her out of possibly millions in royalties on her intellectual property.
The judge in the case, Robert Lasnik, denied the request, stating there was a "plausible case" that Adams in fact retained the intellectual property rights. Although the original Hartz designs from Adams bear scant resemblance to the modern interpretation now well-known, the characters did form the basis of Rovio's designs, though Adams' claims and suit do not involve Rovio at all.
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