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Video Games With Advanced Communications Services Must Now Be Accessible to Players With Disabilities.
Courtesy of our friends Sean Kane and Greg Boyd over at: An important legal waiver recently expired and as a result, video game developers and publishers must now ensure that new and…
U.S. Patent No. 8,821,260: System and method for granting in-game bonuses to a user
U.S. Patent No. 8,821,260: System and method for granting in-game bonuses to a user Issued September 2, 2014, to Kabam Inc. Priority Date November 6, 2012 Summary: U.S. Patent No. 8,821,260 describes…
Hillside Licensing LLC v. Valve Corp
Hillside Licensing LLC v. Valve Corp United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Filed November 29, 2018, Case No. 2:18-cv-01717-BJR On November 29, 2018, Hillside Licensing LLC filed a…
CERT ALERT: Supreme Court to revisit scandalous trademarks (Iancu v. Brunetti)
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the federal government can refuse to grant legal protection to a trademark because officials find it to be vulgar or lewd. Taking up a…
McRo v. Namco Bandai Round 2
McRo Inc. v. Namco Bandai et al. United States District Court for the Central District of California Issued November 13, 2018, Case No: CV 12-10322-GW(FFMx) On November 13, 2018, the Central District…
U.S. Patent No. 8,814,687: Multi-player music game
U.S. Patent No. 8,814,687: Multi-player music game Issued August 26, 2014, to Activision Publishing, Inc. Priority Date May 5, 2010 Summary: U.S. Patent No. 8,814,687 (the ‘687 Patent) describes a method to…
Tattoos in Video Games – A New Right of Publicity?
Yesterday, the New York Times published an article on the use of athlete’s tattoos in video games. While the article regurgitates the usual commentary on the existing current state of the law…
U.S. Patent No. 3,659,285: Television gaming apparatus and method
U.S. Patent No. 3,659,285: Television gaming apparatus and method Issued April 25, 1972, to Lockheed Sanders Inc. Priority Date August 21, 1969 Summary: U.S. Patent No. 3,659,285 (the ‘285 Patent) relates…
Lawsuits filed against Epic and Take-Two over dance emotes
Ferguson v. Epic Games, Inc.United States District Court for the Central District of CaliforniaFiled Dec. 5, 2018, CACD-2-18-cv-10110 Ferguson v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.United States District Court for the Central District of…
Blackbird Techs. v. Niantic, Inc.
Blackbird Techs. v. Niantic, Inc. United States District Court for the District of Delaware C.A. No. 17-cv-1810 (Del. Oct. 31, 2018) November 28, 2018 — Video game developer Niantic recently experienced a…
U.S. Patent No. 9,295,912: Game aim assist
U.S. Patent No. 9,295,912: Game aim assist Issued March 29, 2016, to Sony Computer Entertainment America Priority Date July 13, 2008 Summary: U.S. Patent No. 9,295,912 (the ‘912 Patent) describes a…
Pixar Prevails Under Alice in Patent Dispute
Coffelt v. NVIDIA Corporation Case number: 16-cv-00457 United States Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit Decided: March 15, 2017 Editor’s Note: We apologize for not reporting on this case sooner, but…
NEW BOOK: Computer Games and Immersive Entertainment (a video game legal treatise)
We are proud to announce the publication of Computer Games and Immersive Entertainment: Next Frontiers in Intellectual Property Law (2nd ed., Jan. 2019), edited by Christina Scelsi, J.D., LL.M. and Ross Dannenberg. This…
U.S. Patent No. 9,358,456: Dance competition game
U.S. Patent No. 9,358,456: Dance competition game Issued June 7, 2016, to Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. Priority Date June 11, 2010 Summary: U.S. Patent 9,358,456 (the ‘456 Patent) describes a method…
U.S. Patent No. 9,044,680: Low-friction synchronous interaction in multiplayer online game
U.S. Patent No. 9,044,680: Low-friction synchronous interaction in multiplayer online game Issued June 2, 2015, to Zynga, Inc. Priority Date January 10, 2012 Summary: U.S. Patent No. 9,044,680 (the ‘680 Patent)…
U.S. Patent No. 9,381,430: Interactive video game using game-related physical objects for conducting gameplay
U.S. Patent No. 9,381,430: Interactive video game using game-related physical objects for conducting gameplay Issued: July 5, 2016, to Activision Publishing, Inc. Priority Date: May 17, 2011 Summary: U.S. Patent No. 9,381,430…
State of Gaming and Esports (by Jacob Carlson)
Jacob Carlson of Manatt Digital penned a nice summary of Gaming and Esports for 2018, including a look ahead at what’s in store for 2019. Here are a few snippets: It’s a Fortnite world,…
U.S. Patent No. 9,446,312: Video game systems and methods for protecting game characters during game play
U.S. Patent No. 9,446,312: Video game systems and methods for protecting game characters during game play Issued September 20, 2016 to Nintendo Co., Ltd. Priority Date September 29, 2010 Summary: U.S. Patent…
Epic Sues Two Streamers for Selling Cheat Tools
Epic Games, Inc. v. Lucas et al United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Civil Docket Number: 5:18-cv-00484-BO Epic Games is suing more individuals for cheating in Fortnite,…
Blizzard Entertainment v. Blizzard Sports Center
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. v. Blizzard Sports Center, Inc., et al Central District of California Civil Docket: 8:17-cv-01001-JVS-DFM Filed 06/09/2017 Decided 11/02/2018 On November 2, 2018, the U.S. District Court of the Central…