Hasbro drops Scrabble infringement suit

NEW YORK - Hasbro Inc. has dropped its lawsuit against the makers of a popular online version of the board game Scrabble.

According to documents filed in US District Court in New York, Hasbro dropped the suit Friday.

Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro, which owns North American rights to the word game, sued Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla, brothers from Calcutta, this summer. They developed the unauthorized version, called Scrabulous, after they couldn't find an online version they liked.

Court documents did not specify a reason for the withdrawal.

RJ Softwares, the Agarwallas' company, said it agrees not to use the term Scrabulous and has made changes to versions of the game it created after the suit was filed. Changes to the Wordscrapper application on Facebook.com and games at Lexulous.com help distinguish them from Scrabble, RJ Softwares said.

"The agreement provides people in the US and Canada with a choice of different games and also avoids potentially lengthy and costly litigations," a statement said.

Hasbro and the Agarwallas did not immediately return calls yesterday.