News
Palworld 1.0 Launches as Nintendo Patent Case Targets Earlier Versions
Palworld 1.0 has launched while Nintendo and The Pokémon Company's pending patent claims against Pocketpair remain limited to earlier, pre-patch versions of the game.
Chinese Patent Office Publishes a Nintendo Patent for a Dock Compatible with Both the Switch and Switch 2
Nintendo’s move in China might signal a coming commercial application for their dock technology.
Federal Circuit Signals Skepticism in Epic Tech LLC Patent Case
A recent Federal Circuit oral argument in Epic Tech LLC's patent case highlights the growing importance of evaluating patent strength before filing suit, as weak infringement claims may increase the risk of…
Sony Files Patent Application on Patent Buttons That Get Harder or Softer Based on Touch
Sony's international patent application WO2026110304 concerns controller buttons with reactive hardness/softness.
Federal Circuit Finds Niantic AR-related Patent Claims Ineligible
On April 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a District Court ruling that patent claims directed to augmented reality (“AR”) location services were not subject-matter eligible under…
Transmog, Upgraded: Blizzard’s Machine Learning Magic Patent
Blizzard Entertainment has filed a patent application, pending U.S. Patent Application 2025/0124631, that discusses the technology behind fitting three-dimensional digital items like armor and clothing to different character models. This feature directly…
Piecing It Together: Inside KingsIsle’s Jigsaw Game Patent
Mobile devices can be handy, but their small screens can make certain kinds of games difficult to play. Recognizing this issue, U.S. Pat. No. 10,646,773, assigned to KingsIsle Entertainment (known for Wizard101…
The Magic of Patents: Wizard101 and How Patents on Game Mechanics Have Evolved – Part 1
Video games are as much technology as they are art. And patents are how innovators protect new and useful (fun!) technology. One important area of innovation in games is new and engaging…
Respawned: Patent Arcade is back in the game!
We here at the Patent Arcade have been afk for too long. But no longer! After a two-year hiatus, we’re relaunching our blog dedicated to video game intellectual property news, insights, and…
Infernal Tech. Case Emphasizes Need for Caution When Parts of a Patent Claim Refer Back to Earlier Language
Infernal Technology, LLC v. Activision Blizzard Inc. Case No. 2021-2349 Decided: January 24, 2023 The Federal Circuit issued a decision on January 24, 2023 stating that a collection of Activision Blizzard’s video…
U.S. Patent No. 8,425,325: Automatically generating a book describing a user’s videogame performance
U.S. Patent No. 8,425,325: Automatically generating a book describing a user’s videogame performance Issued April 23, 2013, to Apple Inc. Filing/Priority to February 6, 2009 A comic book of your video…
Recent Video Game Patent Trends at the EPO
Friend of the blog Tom Hamer, of European IP firm Kilburn & Strode, recently posted an article exploring patent filing trends at the EPO related to video game technologies. He found that…
Electronic Arts Pledges to Share Innovative Technologies Which Help Disabled Gamers
Electronic Arts Pledges to Share Innovative Technologies Which Help Disabled Gamers Electronic Arts (“EA”) has pledged to help breakdown barriers for players with disabilities or medical issues through sharing technologies which help…
Warner Brothers Granted Patent for Nemesis System from Middle Earth Video Games
Warner Brothers Granted Patent for Nemesis System from Middle Earth Video Games The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) today (February 23, 2021) granted Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment’s (“WB”) patent on…
EA Sports College Football is Coming Back
EA Sports College Football is Coming Back On February 2nd, Electronic Arts (“EA”) announced that it is bringing back its EA Sports College Football video game in partnership with the Collegiate Licensing…
Court Sends Jurors Steam Controllers in First Zoom Patent Jury Trial
Court Sends Jurors Steam Controllers in First Zoom Patent Jury Trial Ironburg Inventions Ltd. v. Valve Corporation Case No. 2:17-cv-01182 United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Filed December…
Join us in raising money for the Extra Life charity!
Our thanks to Andreas Lober and the team over at Beiten Burkhardt for continuing to host regular virtual games law meetups! Yesterday was a great event, sharing good vibes all around. Of…
Twitch Deletes Content for Copyright Infringement Without Warning
Twitch Deletes Content for Copyright Infringement Without Warning On October 20th, many Twitch streamers received an email from Twitch notifying them that content on their channels was subject to Digital Millennium Copyright…
Microsoft Purchases ZeniMax Media, Parent Company of Bethesda Softworks, id Software, Arkane Studios, and MachineGames
Microsoft Purchases ZeniMax Media, Parent Company of Bethesda Softworks, id Software, Arkane Studios, and MachineGames On September 21st, Microsoft announced that it is acquiring ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks,…
U.S. Patent no. 9,555,334: System and method for managing virtual worlds mapped to real locations in a mobile-enabled massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG)
U.S. Patent no. 9,555,334: System and method for managing virtual worlds mapped to real locations in a mobile-enabled massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) Issued January 31, 2017 to Qualcomm Inc.…