Battles for intellectual property also play in the field of "social games". The industry leader, Zynga, has been engaged for several weeks in legal proceedings against Vostu, a Brazilian company which also offers games for social networks. Founded in 2007, the company boasts 50 million players on various platforms.
In mid-June, filed a complaint against Zynga Vostu, from a California court alleging violations of copyright. The American publisher, sees the games that are Vostu Mini Farm Coffee Mania and Mega City, unauthorized copies of its flagship titles such as Farmville, World Café or Cityville. According to the complaint document, reproduced on Techcrunch, Vostu is accused of taking over not only the ideas of Zynga, but the game mechanics and the business model of selling virtual goods.
As noted in the specialized site, another complaint was also filed in Brazil. And the judge decided to agree with Zynga, asking to withdraw Vostu four games within forty-eight hours or face a daily fine of 20,000 reals (8,900 euros). Vostu announced plans to appeal.
