Scrabulous: Not Fabulous?

Hasbro and Mattel, which own rights to the game, assert that the online version created by two Indian brothers, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, from Kolkata, infringes their copyrights and trademarks.

The companies jointly issued cease and desist notices to the brothers and Facebook.

Scrabulous has gained popularity as a free game since it debuted on Facebook, where it attracts almost 600,000 daily users. People can also play the game at Scrabulous.com.

Scrabulous fans have started a “Save Scrabulous” campaign. John D. Williams, executive director of the National Scrabble Association, expressed the hope that the companies could reach an amicable settlement with Scrabulous: “We’re thrilled over anything that gets people playing more Scrabble. Our goal is to recruit them from the Internet and get them playing on a Scrabble board with a person sitting across from them.”