Inside Trademarks Trademark Analytics, Research & Strategy

Online Game Suit Against Facebook and the Creator of Chain Rxn

Is Chain Rxn Game on Facebook A Clone?

Daniel Miller, the video game designer behind a popular online casual game, Boomshine, recently filed a lawsuit against Facebook and Yao Wei Yeo, of Zwiggler's Apps, the creator of the Chain Rxn game.  Miller alleges that the Chain Rxn game, which is available on Facebook, is an unauthorized flash game clone of his original Boomshine game.

Although Miller first filed suit  in Georgia in October 2009 claiming both trademark and copyright infringement, he just filed an amended complaint alleging only copyright infringement on Wednesday, March 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Miller created the flash-based Boomshine game in early 2007 and then published it on the Internet on March 9, 2007.  Since then the game has been played over 70 million times online. He also secured a copyright registration for his game on May 5, 2009.

Chain Rxn first appeared on Facebook in April 2009.  Not long after its debut on the popular social network, Miller noticed Chain Rxn and took issue with the unauthorized cloning of Boomshine on his blog months prior to filing suit. 

It appears that Miller's and others' notices to Facebook and the Chain Rxn creator regarding the cloning of Boomshine went unanswered, and eventually Miller filed the current lawsuit (see amended complaint below). 

Miller claims that Facebook allowed the cloned game, Chain Rxn, to remain on its website even after being notified of  its infringement.  Both Boomshine and Chain Rxn are available on iPhones as well.   

Cloning of casual and social games is an ever growing problem for developers seeking to monetize their games and intellectual property. Research conducted by Inside Trademarks™ Analytics indicates that intellectual property strategy is a significant factor in determining game developers' business success.

Yesterday, the court in San Francisco, CA held a hearing to consider Facebook's motion to dismiss the suit, however the judge has not yet issued a ruling.  Until then, take a look at Boomshine and then Chain Rxn, and make your own comparison.

See our other articles related to online gaming.

Daniel Miller v. Facebook