Trial Date For WWE 2K Lawsuit Over Randy Orton’s Tattoos Delayed Once Again

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but the lawsuit over Randy Orton’s tattoos appearing in the WWE 2K series has been delayed (yes, again). PWinsider reports that the lawsuit, which is taking place in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis), was pushed out once more after the judge in the case ruled that the surge in the Omicron variant of COVID-19 meant that “a jury cannot be safely impaneled and trial cannot proceed as currently scheduled.”

This is the latest delay in this long-gestating lawsuit, which was originally filed in April of 2018 by tattoo artist Catherine Alexander against WWE, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., 2K Games, Inc., 2K Sports, Inc., Visual Concepts Entertainment, Yuke’s Co., Ltd. and Yuke’s LA Inc. Alexander alleges that she owns the trademarks for all the original designs for her work on Orton and never gave the defendants permission to recreate them in the video games.

The lawsuit has been delayed multiple times for various reasons. The trial was set to kick off on January 31st before the latest postponement. A new trail date will be set on January 19th following a conference between the parties.

A judge ruled in September of last year that WWE and Take-Two had copied five of Alexander’s original designs that she holds valid trademarks on but denied a summary judgment for Alexander, sending the case toward a jury trial.