Lawsuits
Case: Romantics v. Activision (E.D.Mich) – Publicity
The re-performance of a song for use in a video game pursuant to a non-exclusive synchronization license does not, without more, violate the original artists’ right of publicity, even if the artists…
Case: MGA v Ubisoft (Settled)
From IP Law360: MGA Entertainment, makers of the popular Bratz dolls, will hand over $13.2 million to video game company Ubisoft Entertainment, after an arbitrator ruled that Ubisoft had not violated the…
Case Update: Lonestar v. Nintendo (E.D.Tex.)
Lonestar Inventions LP v. Nintendo of America Inc., case no. 6:07-cv-00261 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. This lawsuit between patent-holding company Lonestar Inventions LP and gaming…
Case: CBC v. Major League Baseball
C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P., et al. — F.3d —, 2007 WL 2990366, 84 U.S.P.Q.2d 1328 (8th Cir. 2007) In a much watched case, on…
Case: MicroUnity v. SCEA Settles
Word on the street is that MicroUnity and Sony Computer Entertainment America have settled their ongoing patent dispute regarding Sony’s PlayStation products. The two companies have asked for a 30-day stay of…
Case: Frosty Treats v. Sony [T]
Frosty Treats Inc. v. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. 426 F.3d 1001 (8th Cir. 2005) I scream, You scream, We all scream for Ice Cream! Sony was sued over its use of…
Case Update: MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. et al
MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. et al.United States District Court, District of ArizonaCase No. 2:2006cv02555, Filed October 25, 2006 On October 25, 2006, MDY Industries, LLC (“MDY”) filed a declaratory…
Case Update: Konami v. Roxor (E.D.Tex, SETTLED 2007)
Konami v. Roxor (E.D.Tex 2007 – SETTLED) We previously reported that Konami Corporation sued Roxor Games, Inc. in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging patent infringement, trademark…
Case: Micro Star v. Formgen (9th Cir. 1998) [C]
Micro Star v. FormGen Inc. 154 F.3d 1107 (9th Cir. 1998) Judge Kosinski opens his opinion by positing the most poignant of questions: “Duke Nukem routinely vanquishes Octabrain and the Protozoid Slimer.…
News: GNU GPL v. 3 released
Today the Free Software Foundation released version 3 of the GNU General Public License. The new version of the license contains a lengthy patent license provision, copied below, that users should be…
Case: KSR Int’l v Teleflex (S.Ct. 2007) [P]
KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc. U.S. Supreme Court, April 30, 2007 While technically not a video game case, this landmark Supreme Court case just (expectedly) rocked the patent world. The technology:…
Case Update: Immersion v. Sony
As everyone knows by now, Sony settled with Immersion for about $150M. So while the primary issues have been decided, there is still a little cleaning up to do. Namely, there was…
Case Update: Perfect 10 v. CCBill
While not directly related to video games, this case may have some applicability to the game world, given the convergence of service providers and MMOs (think Linden Labs). In a solid win…
News: Midway sued for Psi-Ops
As reported on Gamespot: Nearly three years ago, Midway released Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, a third-person stealth-action game and–alongside The Suffering and Roadkill–one of a handful of then-recent original intellectual properties the…
Case Update: Immersion v. Sony SETTLED!
Alas, Sony has agreed to fork over $150M to Immersion to settle their ongoing patent dispute. The deal ends a five year battle including allegations of fraud and misconduct after a jury…
Case: Bragg v. Linden Labs
Bragg v. Linden Lab, E.D. Pa. (Pending) Well I had some initial reservation about including this case on our tracking list, given that it wasn’t a “pure” IP case. However, in today’s…
Case Update: Immersion v. Sony Oral Argument
The Federal Circuit heard oral arguments yesterday in the Immersion v. Sony appeal. As previously reported, the sole issue on appeal is Sony’s allegation of misconduct by Immersion. Sony’s arguments at the…
Case Update: Fenner v. Microsoft [P]
It appears that Sony’s game controller woes just continue to grow. Fenner Investments Ltd. has sued Microsoft (Xbox 360), Sony (PS2), and Nintendo (Gamecube) for allegedly infringing U.S. Patent No. 6,297,751, which…
Case: Planet Bingo v. Gametech Int’l [P]
Planet Bingo v. Gametech International __ F.3d __ (Fed. Cir. 2006) Planet Bingo is the exclusive licensee of both the ‘289 and ‘786 patents. The patents claim alternative methods of playing bingo…
News: Immserion v. Sony Appeal
Sorry we took a bit of a hiatus over the holidays. We’re back at work, which includes blogging… So for those following the Immersion v. Sony case regarding haptic (vibration) feedback patents…