Tardigrades Lawsuit Dismissed; Abdin Failed to Demonstrate “Overall Feel” Similarity

The Kuwati-born game developer has had his case against CBS and Netflix dismissed by Judge Lorna Schofield. The Federal Court summarily dismissed the case in a 15 page ruling detailing Abdin’s failings to identify any component of the hit CBS All Access show that was substantially similar.

However, there were some minor similarities found but Schofield ruled they were “not actionable.” Where the developer had tried to argue the characters of Burnham, Stamets, Tilly and Culber, the judge found “the alleged similarities between … characters in the two works also fails to support a claim, as they are mostly generalized non-protectable descriptions.”

One of the core components in Abdin’s defense centered on the Tardigrade itself, which Schofield ruled were not original to the video game – or the series itself. The ruling went on to describe works like the 2010 kid’s fantasy novel The Search for WondLa, and the 2014 season of FOX’s Seth MacFarlane series Cosmos. Which all predated Abdin’s work.

On his blog, Abdin released a statement:

I respect the ruling and I expect everyone to do so

And while he laments the future prospects of the game, Axamonitor’s Carlos Pedraza suggests that there is little to worry about, given Schofield’s finding that the game and Discovery were likely developed independently.