SEATTLE — A pet toy company that designed a line of products after the “Angry Birds” video game characters has settled a lawsuit brought by a Seattle artist.
The artist, Juli Adams, said she came up with the idea for “Angry Birds” pet toys and designed them for the company, The Hartz Mountain Corp., in 2006, before the video game existed.
Adams said she was cheated out of millions of dollars when Hartz entered a deal with Rovio Entertainment, which makes the insanely popular “Angry Birds” video game, three years later. She argued that Hartz licensed her intellectual property to Rovio without her permission. Rovio wanted to market plush pet toys based on its video game, but it couldn’t because her work already had the U.S. trademark for “Angry Birds” pet toys. That prompted Rovio’s deal with Hartz.
The settlement was finalized last month. The terms are confidential, but Adams’ lawyer says she’s happy with the result.
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