(CN) — Roblox Corp. can proceed to trial over its claims that a line of My Avastars dolls created by a Hong Kong toymaker illegally copied the classic avatars of Roblox's popular online game platform for kids.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Tuesday denied most of WowWee Group's motion for summary judgment on Roblox's copyright infringement, trademark infringement and false advertising claims. The case is now headed for a jury trial in December in San Francisco federal court.
While the Hong Kong toymaker argued that Roblox doesn't own an exclusive right to the Cindy, Lindsey, Kenneth and Dennis avatars that are at issue in the litigation, and that as such WowWee was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the copyright claims, the judge agreed with Roblox that there were factual disputes about the avatars' creation that should go before the jury.
The judge agreed with WowWee, however, that based on the undisputed facts, Roblox can't claim that the My Avastars dolls infringed copyrightable elements of the unregistered avatar bases that were included in the Cindy, Lindsey, Kenneth and Dennis, or CLKD, designs.
"The court finds that although the evidence Roblox points to suggests that the CLKD works may have 'felt like' the avatar bases in some way, the evidence does not suggest that the CLKD works include 'copyrightable elements' of the avatar bases or that the CLKD works were 'substantially copied,' from the avatar bases, making them derivative works," Illston said.
The judge earlier had granted WooWee's request to dismiss the copyright claims over the avatar bases, but in light of a Ninth Circuit ruling in an unrelated copyright case, allowed the San Mateo, California-based to plead these claims anew.
Roblox is, by some accounts, the most popular kids game in the United States, with 58.8 million daily active users around the world, as of last year — though calling it a game is somewhat misleading. More accurately, it is a "digital world where users create virtual games and experiences and connect with other users,” as Roblox describes it.
There are countless games within that world, some of which have been designed by users who interact with one another through animated characters that look a lot like Lego figures. These avatars can be personalized by adding different hair styles, articles of clothing and facial expressions.
In August 2022, Roblox filed a lawsuit against WowWee, which had begun selling the My Avastars line of dolls which, according to the company, had been "intentionally copied directly from Roblox’s Classic Avatars."
Adding insult to injury, Roblox says, WowWee also included a special code with every $25-$35 doll which allowed its customers to link their real dolls with online avatars on the Roblox platform — thus having the virtual world copying the real world copying the virtual world. WowWee called this funhouse mirror the “My Avastars: RP experience."
In Tuesday's decision, Illston also denied WowWee's bid for summary judgment on Roblox's trade dress infringement, trademark infringement and false advertising claims.
The judge granted WowWee's request to stop Roblox from seeking injunctive relief over its trademark and false advertising claims because the toymaker two years ago voluntarily stopped using the Roblox trademark and removed all references to Roblox in its marketing and promotional materials after it received a cease-and-desist letter.
But the judge didn't want to go so far as the prevent Roblox from seeking damages on its false advertising claims based on WowWee's argument that the company hasn't provided “evidence of any actual damages suffered as a result of WowWee’s historical references to Roblox.”
"To conclude here that Roblox will not be able to prove any gross revenue from the My Avastars dolls, or that any profits resulted from WowWee’s use of the ROBLOX mark or Roblox name in its advertising and promotional materials, would require the court to impermissibly draw inferences in favor of WowWee," Illston said.
Attorneys for Roblox and WowWee didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.
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