Kenneth W Penders II v. Sega of America Inc et al 
United States District Court, Central District of California
Case No. 2:2011cv08173, Filed On October 3, 2011

A dispute over copyright ownership of contributions to the Sonic Comic Book Series continues [Link] with a Judge for the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California dismissing the suit against Sega and Electronic Arts without prejudice.  On May 31, 2011, Penders decided to initiate a lawsuit against Sega and Electronic Arts in the Central District of California Western Division court, alleging that the two companies infringed upon his copyrights when they used characters and details he created in Sonic video games (such as Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood).  The court dismissed the case without prejudice on September 26, 2011, stating that Penders could re-file the action after the conclusion of the Archie Comic case.  Instead, Penders decided to re-file the same action on October 3 in the same district.  Furthermore, Penders did not file a Notice of Related Case.  To this, Judge Wright commented that "such procedural maneuvering is not well taken, nor will it be tolerated." On February 23, 2012, Judge Wright dismissed the case without prejudice.  Since Penders' rights would be affected by the Archie Comics case, the Judge felt that it was more appropriate to dismiss the case rather than stay it, again noting that Penders could file again after the conclusion of the Archie Comics case.

Penders has since filed an appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on March 26, 2012.