The best possible outcome IMO would be for Facebook to back Zynga and have EA and Zynga/Facebook sue each other into oblivion :D

I believe it's called "casualties".

I find myself rooting for the lawyers involved on both sides, which makes me slightly uncomfortable.

I have an idea for a new game called 'Sue City', where you play the role of an office junior in a legal firm and have to complete tasks and make social and professional connections in order to earn promotions and eventially become a lawyer in a top corporate case involving two companies called Arpel and Sumsang.

Any takers?

Thanks for the idea. By the way, have you heard of my new product, Sue Ville?

I'm rooting for my popcorn.

It's not the genre that was copied, it was the exact behavior and appearance of the game.

Read this, or at least view the comparison images: http://www.scribd.com/doc/101954002/EA-v-Zynga-Complaint-Fin...

Wow, that's pretty remarkable. They even copied the RGB values for the possible character skin tones.

This isn't about stealing from 'The Sims' franchise. It's stealing from the Facebook game, 'The Sims Social'. It's direct, not a matter of genre copyright.

Read the complaint. It's about blatant, element-for-element theft of creative expression, not about claiming ownership of a game genre.