Roblox Alleges Hong Kong Toy Company WowWee Group Ripped Off Avatars to Sell Dolls

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Roblox Corp. accused WowWee Group Ltd. of copying its avatars from its Roblox platform to sell dolls and metaverse code, filing a copyright and trademark suit in federal California court.

Roblox said WowWee violated its terms of use and openly used the Roblox trademark to market its physical dolls as My Avastars, the complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. WowWee also partnered with a Roblox developer to sell codes redeemable as metaverse visions of the infringing dolls for exclusive use on Roblox's platform, it said.

The complaint against WowWee, a Hong Kong-based toy company that originated in Canada, represents a foray into the expanding world of metaverse-born intellectual property rights. Roblox said it has registered a number of Classic Avatars as audiovisual works. Users of its platforms can further modify and customize their personal avatars.

Developers can create interactive content known as “experiences'—games, events, virtual places—on the Roblox platforms, the complaint said. That's where users can deply their avatars to represent themselves in the digital space. But Roblox says its terms prohibit use of its intellectual property outside its platform without its permission.

WowWee “admittedly copied Roblox's wildly successful avatar” designs to create and sell physical dolls called My Avastars, the complaint said. It quoted WowWee executive Sydney Wiseman saying she was “looking at customization of roblox” and realized that “wow, that would be a great doll line.”

WowWee also induced top Roblox developer Gamefam to market the dolls, the complaint said. It added that WowWee and Gamefam also paired the dolls with a code that would let the buyer use the avatar on the