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In a complaint filed on Thursday in federal court in San
Francisco, Atari said Nestle knowingly exploited the "Breakout"
name, look and feel through social media and a video, hoping to
leverage "the special place it holds among nostalgic Baby
Boomers, Generation X, and even today's Millennial and
post-Millennial 'gamers.'"
Nestle did not immediately respond to requests for comment after
regular business hours.
Created as a successor to "Pong" by Steve Wozniak with help from
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, "Breakout" requires a player to
knock down rows of colored bricks with a paddle.
According to Atari, "Nestle simply took the classic 'Breakout'
screen, replaced its bricks with Kit Kat bars, and invited
customers to 'breakout' and buy more candy bars."
Atari's complaint includes a link to an ad for Kit Kat Bites,
titled "Kit Kat: Breakout," showing adults and children seated
on a coach, using paddles to knock down Kit Kat bars. ((https://vimeo.com/204352144))
"The infringing conduct in this case is so plain and blatant
that Nestle cannot claim to be an 'innocent' infringer," the
complaint said. "Nestle knew exactly what it was doing."
Atari accused Nestle of copyright and trademark infringement and
unfair competition.
It is seeking three times Nestle's profit from the alleged
infringement, plus triple and punitive damages. Nestle SA,
Nestle UK and Nestle USA were named as defendants.
The case is Atari Interactive Inc v Nestle SA et al, U.S.
District Court, Northern District of California, No. 17-04803.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
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