Scrabulous suspended on Facebook

The authorised Facebook Scrabble launched in July

The developers of the popular Facebook application Scrabulous have suspended the game for some users following legal action by toy maker Hasbro.

The application has been disabled for users in the US and Canada.

Hasbro, the makers of Scrabble, are suing the Calcutta-based founders of Scrabulous, claiming they are infringing its copyright and trademark.

Hasbro had asked Facebook to block access following the launch of its own official version of Scrabble.

A spokeswoman for Facebook told the BBC that the final decision to suspend the game was made by the developers, not the site itself.

Defence campaign

Scrabulous has been one of the most popular applications on Facebook, regularly racking up more than 500,000 users each day.

Fans have mounted a vigorous defence campaign since the joint owners of Scrabble, Mattel and Hasbro, announced their intention to sue the Facebook developers back in January.

In a statement, Facebook said that "games are an important part of the social experience on Facebook" and they hope that the dispute will not discourage other developers from testing new ideas.

"We're disappointed that Hasbro has sought to draw us into their dispute," it said. "Nevertheless, we have forwarded their concerns to Scrabulous and requested their appropriate response."