New York - Following legal actions taken by toymaker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) to get "Scrabulous," a Web knock-off version of its "Scrabble" removed from the Facebook social network in the U.S., Mattel (NYSE: MAT) -- which owns the rights to Scrabble outside of North America -- has compelled Facebook to take Scrabulous down in most of the rest of the world, the Associated Press reports. The one region where Scrabulous remains available in India, where developers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla reside -- but Mattel has filed suit against the brothers there as well.

"It surprises us that Mattel chose to direct Facebook to take down Scrabulous without waiting for the (Indian court's) decision," Jayant Agarwalla told AP.

"Mattel's action speaks volumes about their business practices and respect for the judiciary."

After Scrabulous was pulled from Facebook in the U.S., the Agarwalla brothers launched "Wordscraper," a game very similar to Scrabble that made changes to its name and appearance in a bid to evade further trademark claims.

Related Links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080825/ap_on_hi_te/facebook_scrabble_2

http://snipurl.com/3jpsu (DMW previous coverage)

http://snipurl.com/3jpsy (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.scrabulous.com