Actor Hayden Christensen has won the right to appeal his recently dismissed lawsuit against the bosses of U.S. TV series Royal Pains.
The Canadian actor and his brother Tove, who own production company Forest Park Pictures, accused executives at Universal Television (Utv) of stealing their 2005 idea for a show based on a "concierge" doctor who makes home visits to rich and famous clients.
The siblings launched a legal battle against Utv bosses in 2010 after a programme containing striking similarities to their pitch, Royal Pains, premiered in June, 2009, but a judge subsequently threw out the case, declaring the claims concerned "materials that are not copyrightable, such as ideas".
The Christensens later filed an appeal in a bid to overturn the decision but Utv chiefs countered with a motion to dismiss, which was eventually granted by a district court.
However on Tuesday (26Jun12), the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the second circuit in New York reversed that ruling, giving Tove and the Jumper star the opportunity to push forward with an appeal.