Rovio didn't come up with the Angry Birds brand

Suddenly: it turns out that the author of the Angry Birds trademark is the American artist Julia Adams, and not Rovio. And she is suing those who allowed Rovio to sell toys under this brand in the United States.

The story, which now looks like a scandal, began in 2006. Hartz, a company specializing in the production of pet products, commissioned Julia to create a line of toys for cats.

Julia came up with a series of plush toys under the single brand Angry Birds. The girl was prudent, and therefore, concluding an agreement with Hartz, she reserved the rights to the trademark for herself. The company, in turn, could only use it for five years (until 2011).

In 2009, the Angry Birds mobile game was released. After some time (sometime between 2009 and 2011), the Finns, being interested in expanding their business, conclude an agreement with Hartz without Julia's knowledge, according to which they receive the exclusive right to advertise and distribute stuffed animal toys under the Angry Birds video game brand. The funny thing is: the agreement with Julia Hartz was never broken.

But when the contract ended, the company re-registered the Angry Birds trademark and continued to produce toys for Rovio. Julia's last payment was accrued in 2011 and amounted to $40 (not millions or thousands, but forty bucks).

Now the artist demands to restore justice: part of the money earned by Hartz on the Angry Birds brand in the category "toys and sporting goods", according to the plaintiff, belongs to her.

Will it work?

Here you can find the text of the original claim.