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Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 9,566,503: Massively single-playing online game

U.S. Patent No. 9,566,503 Massively single-playing online game Issued February 14, 2017, to Nintendo Co. Ltd. Priority Date February 2, 2010 Summary: A huge draw to online games, especially MMORPGs, is the…

9566503 Massively single-playing online game Nintendo patent
Lawsuits

Grinch Parody ruled a Fair Use

Lombardo v. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P 279 F. Supp. 3d 497 (S.D.N.Y. 2017), aff’d, No. 17-2952-cv, 2018 WL 3323476 (2d Cir. 2018) On July 6, 2018, the Second Circuit upheld the Southern…

17 USC 107 Broadway Copyright Dr. Seuss
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 9,616,345: Systems and methods for crowd-sourced game strategy

U.S. Patent No. 9,616,345: Systems and methods for crowd-sourced game strategy Issued April 11, 2017, to Electronic Arts Inc. Priority Date July 1, 2014 Summary: Playing EA’s Madden can be daunting because…

9616345 Electronic Arts Madden patent
Lawsuits

Conan Properties et al. v. Sanchez (EDNY) – Copyright in Characters

Conan Properties Int’l LLC et al. v. Ricardo Jove Sanchez United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York Case No. 1:17-cv-00162-FB-RLM, Memorandum and Order of August 15, 2018  …

Characters Conan v. Sanchez Copyright Eastern District of New York
Lawsuits

Atari sues Indy T-Shirt Websites

Atari Interactive, Inc. v. RedBubble, Inc. United States District Court for the Northern District of California Docket No. 3-18-cv-03451, filed June 11, 2018 Atari Interactive, Inc. v. Zazzle, Inc. United States District…

Atari Atari Interactive v. RedBubble Copyright copyright infringement
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 9,704,350: Musical Combat Game

U.S. Patent No. 9,704,350: Musical Combat Game Issued July 11, 2017, to Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. Priority Date March 14, 2013 Summary: Call of Duty: Rock Band. U.S. Patent No. 9,704,350 (the…

9704350 Harmonix Music Games Musical Combat Game
Misc

The NEW Patent Arcade – Subscribe Today

We’re happy (and a little relieved) to announce that the NEW Patent Arcade web site is now live with all new features.  We’ve not only updated our look, but we’ve added new…

Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 8,944,919: Network game system for executing event in network game

U.S. Patent No. 8,944,919: Network game system for executing event in network game Issued February 3, 2015 to Square Enix Summary: This patent relates to a network game such as an MMORPG in…

8944919 Network game system for executing event in network game patent Square Enix
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 9,707,476: Method for creating a mini-game

U.S. Patent No. 9,707,476: Method for creating a mini-game Issued July 18, 2017, to Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Priority Date September 28, 2012 Summary: Classic console games are known for being challenging…

9707476 GameDev Method for creating a mini-game Mini-games
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 6,488,505: System and method of vehicle competition with enhanced ghosting features

U.S. Patent No. 6,488,505: System and method of vehicle competition with enhanced ghosting features Issued December 3, 2002, to Midway Games West Inc. Priority Date July 15, 1999 Summary: U.S. Patent No.…

6488505 ghost racers Midway patent
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 5,718,632: Recording medium, method of loading games program code means, and games machine

U.S. Patent No. 5,718,632: Recording medium, method of loading games program code means, and games machine Issued February 17, 1998, to Namco Ltd. Summary: In 1995, Yoichi Hayashi of Namco Ltd. invented…

5718632 Patents Recording medium method of loading games program code means and games machine
Lawsuits

Striking from the Shadows

Infernal Technology, LLC et al v. Crytek GmbH United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Docket No. 2-18-cv-00284, filed July 10, 2018 On July 10, 2018, Infernal Technology and Terminal Reality…

activision blizzard Crytek EA
Lawsuits

Bethesda sues Warner Bros. over Westworld Mobile Game

  Bethesda Softworks LLC v. Behaviour Interactive, Inc., et al United States District Court for the District of Maryland Docket No. 8:18-cv-01846-RWT, filed June 21, 2018 On June 21, 2018, Bethesda Softworks…

Behaviour Interactive Bethesda Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks v. Behaviour Interactive
Lawsuits

Update – PUBG withdraws lawsuit against Epic

PUBG Corp., the Korean Subsidiary of Bluehole Studios (the developer of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds), has dropped its lawsuit against Fortnite developer Epic Games Inc. PUBG had filed a copyright infringement claim against Epic…

Battle Royale Copyright Copyrights Epic
Lawsuits

How do you perform a video game?

Epic Games, Inc. et al v. Mendes et al United States District Court for the Northern District of California CAND-3-17-cv-06223, Filed Oct. 27, 2017 We recently reported on Epic Games suing individuals…

17 USC 106(4) Cheating Copyright Copyrights
Misc

New Game Law Journal – Interactive Entertainment Law Review (and read our article!)

If you’ve ever been to Queen Mary’s excellent More than Just a Game events, you have probably heard of the new Interactive Entertainment Law Review journal launched by Profs. Dimita, Mimler, and…

Copyright eSports IELR Journal
Lawsuits

Candy Crush Pushing into Possible Patent Infringement

Groove Digital, Inc. v. King.com, LTD. et al., United States District Court for the District of Delaware, 1-18-cv-00836, filed 06/04/2018 On June 4, 2018, Groove Digital filed a lawsuit in the District…

apps Candy Crush delaware District of Delaware
News

E3 2018: Halo Infinite

Call me old school, but Halo 2 is still my favorite multiplayer first-person shooter.  It was the most balanced FPS game I’ve ever played, and I still get excited with each new…

FPS Halo
Lawsuits

Sony Files for Another IPR on a Patent Relating to Stereoscopic Images

On May 22, 2018, Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony) filed a petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent 8,206,218 (the ‘218 Patent), owned by Techno View IP. The ‘218 Patent is related…

inter partes review ipr patent infringement Patents
Lawsuits

A Battle Royale is Brewing

PUBG Corporation, makers of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, have filed a lawsuit against Epic Games, makers of Fortnite, in South Korea. The lawsuit was filed in the Seoul Central District Court in January. PUBG…

Battle Royale California Copyright Epic Games