A jury says DreamWorks Animation did not steal the idea of Kung Fu Panda from Terence Dunn who claimed he pitched the movie about a “spiritual kung-fu fighting panda bear” back in 2001.
At one point, Dunn claimed he was entitled to a percentage of the hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from the films. The damages discussion sealed from public view at DreamWorks’ request. The case then survived a DreamWorks summary judgment motion and made it all the way to a two-week jury trial, which featured testimony from DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, among others.
The jury took about three days to reach a verdict in favor of the studio. The jurors decided that DWA and its executives did enter into an implied-in-fact contract, but the panel found that the studio didn’t use Dunn’s ideas, so the question of damages was moot.
Dunn’s attorneys say they’ll appeal according to Hollywood Reporter.