News
Microsoft acquires another game studio
Microsoft has acquired Twisted Pixel Studios, according to a recent Microsoft press release: As a step in continuing to deliver Microsoft Studios’ innovative game and entertainment offerings, Microsoft has announced the acquisition…
New Book: The ABA Legal Guide to Video Game Development
Ross A. Dannenberg publishes new book: “The American Bar Association’s Legal Guide to Video Game Production” The American Bar Association’s Legal Guide to Video Game Development is published by the American Bar…
Publishing Rights for Original “Psychonauts” Revert to Double Fine
Double Fine Obtains Publishing Rights to “Psychonauts” As of June 14, 2011, the rights to the hit 2005 adventure game, Psychonauts, have reverted to its original publisher Double Fine. Previously, Double Fine…
Law360 Article: Virtual-World Conflicts Lead To Real-World Suits
There’s an interesting article on Law360 today: Virtual-World Conflicts Lead To Real-World Suits. Here’s an excerpt from the article: Law360, New York (June 08, 2010) — As the market for online games…
News: New Patent Assigned to Microsoft
Kotaku reports that last week Microsoft was assigned U.S. Patent No. 7,559,834, filed in 2002, for “Dynamic join/exit of players during play of console-based video game.” This patent claims “A squad-based shooter…
Ross Dannenberg Speaking at Seattle Penny Arcade Expo Sep. 4
Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is a three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers. They call it a festival because in addition to dedicated tournaments and freeplay areas They’ve got nerdcore…
News: Midway bankruptcy dispute…
From Law360: An entertainment licensing company has begun legal combat with bankrupt video game producer Midway Games Inc. over the licenses for movies, television shows, live action productions and other properties based…
Supreme Court grants Cert in Bilski appeal
Today the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case Bilski v. Doll. As many readers may know, the case In re Bilski is the case in which the Federal Circuit…
News: First software patent issued!
On this day in history, as reported by Wired.com, on May 26, 1981, the USPTO granted the first pure software patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,270,182, to Satya Pal Asija. Video games are…
News: bits and, well, more bits…
Two items of note, one of which is in two parts: 1) Square Enix reportedly kills Chrono Trigger fan project based on alleged copyright infringement. 2) Duke Nukem Forever news…2.1) 3 minutes…
News: Patent Arcade author handles one of the highest profile virtual law cases.
The San Francisco Chronicle ran a nice article today about virtual law, including quotes from yours truly. The high point (at least in MY opinion): But some attorneys set up virtual offices…
Video game trademark dispute brewing over OCTOMOM…
On April 10, 2009, Nadya Suleman, who became famous in January when she gave birth to octuplets, filed a pair of trademark applications at the USPTO. She wants to use the mark…
News: Pirate Bay Operators Found Guilty
On a related note… If you haven’t already heard, the four men connected to The Pirate Bay, the world’s most notorious file sharing site, were convicted by a Swedish court Friday of…
News/Update: Cloud Gaming
Cloud computing has been a hot topic lately. Just ask Dell, whose application to register the trademark CLOUD COMPUTING was refused because the term is already generic. Amazon, Google, and other service…
Patent Reform 2009
It appears that congress is again going to try to pass patent reform legislation. Rather than recreate the wheel, and based on other deadlines I have today, feel free to read the…
News: Santa Clara Law School Hosts Open House in Second Life
From Leigh Jones, Associate editor at the National Law Journal: –In what is considered the first event of its kind, Santa Clara University School of Law is holding an open house in…
News: Guitar Hero/Rock Band for a REAL guitar
You know, I’ve been waiting for over a year since I first heard about Guitar Rising, a Guitar Hero style video game that you can play with a REAL guitar. It seems…
In memoriam: A loss to the Virtual World community…
The Patent Arcade is sad to report that we have lost one of our own. Steve Davidson, a friend, colleague, and groundbreaking attorney in the video game and virtual world fields, passed…
News: Trademark Registration for Second Life Avatar
Its not every day that we get to report TRADEMARK news, so this is a refreshing change from the norm. On Nov. 11, 2008, the United States Patent & Trademark Office granted…
News: Japanese avatar kills virtual husband after “divorce”
The stories just keep on flowing. Who knew that divorce could lead to a virtual killing, and subsequent arrest for hacking? Read the story here. In short, a 43-year-old Japanese woman killed…