Intense copyright dispute arises over the 'make in Vietnam' animated characters Wolfoo and Peppa Pig from the UK

The intellectual property rights dispute between the Wolfoo and Peppa Pig animated characters has reached a dramatic climax, with Wolfoo's owner, Sconnect, simultaneously suing Entertainment One in the Moscow court (Russia) and the Hanoi People's Court.

According to VietTimes, the latest developments in the dispute between the Wolfoo (the wolf) and Peppa Pig (the pig) animated characters, on August 19, 2022, Sconnect Vietnam Company (Sconnect) filed a lawsuit against two companies based in London (UK), Entertainment One UK Limited and Astley Baker Davies Limited (collectively referred to as EO), in the Hanoi People's Court. EO is the owner of the Peppa Pig animated character, while Sconnect is the owner of the Wolfoo animated character.

Entertainment One accused of unauthorized use of the Wolfoo trademark

In the lawsuit and documents submitted to the Hanoi People's Court, Sconnect accuses EO of unauthorized use of the Wolfoo trademark in Peppa Pig videos - violating Article 129, Clause 1 of the Intellectual Property Law. At the same time, Sconnect requests the Court to order EO to cease trademark infringement activities and publicly apologize to Sconnect in three international newspapers.

Earlier, in late March 2022, Sconnect filed a complaint with the Vietnam National Competition Commission regarding EO's unfair competition practices, violating Clauses 3 and 4 of Article 45 of the Competition Law. Specifically, EO disseminated false information damaging the reputation and honor of Sconnect and the Wolfoo animated character. Moreover, according to Sconnect, EO employed various tactics to disrupt and temporarily suspend Sconnect's business activities in the digital environment, causing significant economic losses to Sconnect. According to estimates, EO's actions caused damages to Sconnect of up to $300,000.

Sconnect representatives stated that in September 2022, Sconnect continued to file a lawsuit against EO in the Hanoi People's Court for impersonating the owner of the Wolfoo cartoon and using technical measures to illegally prevent intellectual property rights. EO's actions violated Articles 2, 8, and 12 of the Intellectual Property Law.

Peppa Pig's 'creator' loses lawsuit in Russia

According to information from Sconnect, EO is the company that sparked the intellectual property dispute between Wolfoo and Peppa Pig and suffered a devastating defeat in Russia.

Specifically, on January 11, 2022, EO filed a lawsuit in the Moscow court accusing the Wolfoo character of being a derivative work of the Peppa Pig character. Sconnect infringed copyright by creating derivative works and illegally posting them on websites.

During the litigation process in Russia, Sconnect presented evidence and legal documents demonstrating intellectual property rights to the Wolfoo character and cartoon. These included: Certificates of Wolfoo character ownership by Sconnect compliant with international law; independent evaluations by Russian art and literature experts on the Wolfoo and Peppa Pig cartoons.

In July 2022, Russian art and literature experts concluded that the litigation documents and expert opinions provided by EO to the court violated Russian Expert Law because these experts lacked the competence to evaluate; the evaluation content exceeded the jurisdiction of EO's experts. Russian art and literature experts also affirmed: “the Wolfoo character is not a remake of the Peppa Pig character.”

Based on the objective assessments of Russian literary and artistic experts, on 7/7/2022, EO withdrew all litigation requests. On the same day, the Moscow Court accepted EO's withdrawal request and decided to terminate the lawsuit. The Moscow Court also ruled: “EO is no longer entitled to litigate or claim about the Wolfoo character being a remake of the Peppa Pig character.”

EO's lawsuit in the Moscow court officially closed and ended in EO's failure. Subsequently, in August 2022, Sconnect counter-sued EO in the Moscow court seeking compensation for damages caused by EO, which is currently in the resolution process.

Also related to this dispute, EO filed a lawsuit against Sconnect in the UK High Court since February 2022, but it has not yet been accepted by the court. As EO's lawsuit filing was unsuccessful, the lawsuit in the UK court has no legal validity. However, EO continues to use it to claim copyright over Wolfoo videos, and YouTube still accepts it, leading to significant economic losses for Sconnect.

“Make in Vietnam” animated series reaches 30 billion views milestone

Sconnect is a Vietnamese digital content company involved in producing animated children's films since 2014. With nearly 1,000 personnel including technology engineers and experienced film producers, Sconnect has put Vietnam on the world map of animation. At Sconnect's studio, a team of Vietnamese creators has developed a series of animated characters such as: Wolfoo; WOA Fairy Tales; Max’s Puppy Dog; Tiny - Clay Mixer; WOA Luka … Sconnect is developing the WOA business ecosystem with over 10,000 videos produced and more than 130 million followers on YouTube and social media platforms.

The Wolfoo animated series premiered in June 2018, airing on YouTube and various social media, television, and online platforms. To date, 2,700 episodes of Wolfoo have been translated into over 17 languages, becoming a renowned global brand.

The Wolfoo series, known as the 'golden star of million-view village,' has a positive influence on young audiences worldwide. According to data released by the online video technology site Tubefilter, Wolfoo's channel system has attracted over 50 million subscribers, averaging 2 billion views per month and has reached the milestone of 30 billion views since its release; Wolfoo channels have repeatedly ranked in the top 50 YouTube channels with the most views; Wolfoo has also received 3 diamond buttons and numerous gold and silver buttons from YouTube.