Posts
Atari Games Corp. v. Oman, 979 F. (2d) 242 (Cir DC 1992)
Atari Games Corp. v. Oman 979 F. (2d) 242 (DC Cir. 1992) This case dealt with the copyright status of video games, particularly whether video games are eligible for registration. Atari Games…
HUGE win for Google in Oracle API case.
From Law360: Google won a high-profile jury verdict Thursday that its use of Oracle’s copyrighted Java software code in its Android mobile operating system was protected by the fair use doctrine, clearing…
Shameless Plug: That Frog on Kickstarter
That Frog is a casual mobile game being developed by Pixabits with the help of students at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Game development is about 1/3 complete, and they are…
Martin O’Donnell v. Harold Ryan
O’Donnell v. Ryan Case No. 14-2-12439-2 SEA Superior Court of Washington for King County On April 11, 2014, Martin O’Donnell’s employment was terminated by Bungie’s board of directors. O’Donnell had been a…
U.S. Patent No. 8,535,153: Video game system and methods of operating a video game
U.S. Patent No. 8,535,153: Video game system and methods of operating a video game Issued Sep. 17, 2013 Summary: The ‘153 patent deals with video game systems with two forms of media.…
Patent Arcade Seeks Summer Intern
Hey law students, it’s that time of year again. The Patent Arcade is seeking a summer intern to assist with news, research, and drafting content for the blog. A keen interest in…
U.S. Patent No. 8,585,476: Location-based games and augmented reality systems
U.S. Patent No. 8,585,476: Location-based games and augmented reality systems Issued Nov. 19, 2013 Summary: The ‘476 patent deals with virtual realities and augmented realities that rely on real world data to…
Obama Signs Law Allowing Trade Secret Owners to Sue in Federal Court
OBAMA SIGNS LAW ALLOWING TRADE SECRET OWNERS TO SUE IN FEDERAL COURT By Bradley J. Van Pelt and Shambhavi Patel Yesterday, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), enacting a federal trade secrets…
U.S. Patent No. 8,678,891: Video game systems and methods including protecting game character(s)
U.S. Patent No. 8,678,891: Video game systems and methods including protecting game character(s) Issued March 25, 2014 Summary: The ‘891 patent applies to multi-player games, in which each player controls a separate…
U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index
The U.S. Copyright Office maintains an index of fair use lawsuits. They recently sent out a reminder about the index, reproduced below. Definitely worth checking out. One year ago, the U.S. Register…
Banner & Witcoff is HIRING! Attorneys and Law Clerks wanted.
Banner & Witcoff is seeking Associate Attorneys with 1-7 years of experience and a background in electrical engineering, computer engineering or computer science for its Washington, DC office. Patent prosecution experience is…
U.S. Patent No. 8,668,561: Video games including real-life attributes and/or fantasy settings
U.S. Patent No. 8,668,561: Video games including real-life attributes and/or fantasy settings Issued Mar. 11, 2014 Summary: The ‘561 patent applies to fantasy sports and covers a networked system that creates a…
U.S. Patent No. 8,690,653: Video game systems and methods
U.S. Patent No. 8,690,653: Video game systems and methods Issued Apr. 8, 2014, to Nintendo Co., Ltd. Summary: The ‘653 patent covers multiplayer games in which each player controls a separate character…
U.S. Patent No. 8,715,087: Video game including user determined location information
U.S. Patent No. 8,715,087: Video game including user determined location information Issued May 6, 2014 Summary: The ‘087 patent covers a method and device, which work together to collect player selected…
U.S. Patent No. 8,721,412: System and method configured to unlock content within a videogame
U.S. Patent No. 8,721,412: System and method configured to unlock content within a videogame Issued May 13, 2014, to Activision Publishing, Inc. Summary: The ‘412 patent covers both single and multi-player…
U.S. Patent No. 8,740,707: Video game controller for multiple users
U.S. Patent No. 8,740,707: Video game controller for multiple users Issued Jun. 3, 2014 Summary: The ‘707 patent is a hardware patent, which covers a game controller that can be used by…
U.S. Patent No. 8,591,332: Video game video editor
U.S. Patent No. 8,591,332: Video game video editor Issued Nov. 26, 2013, to Activision Publishing, Inc. Summary: The ‘332 patent describes a video editor that displays game play clips created while the…
U.S. Patent No. 8,635,163: System and method for facilitating a video game exchange
U.S. Patent Not. 8,635,163: System and method for facilitating a video game exchange Issued Jan. 21, 2014, to Green Man Gaming Limited Summary: The ‘163 patent relies on a network and server…
U.S. Patent No. 8,491,394: Squad vs. squad video game
U.S. Patent No. 8,491,394: Squad vs. squad video game Issued Jul. 23, 2013, to Microsoft Corporation Summary: The ‘394 patent applies to shooter video games, which are focused around competing squads. The…
U.S. Patent No. 8,764,555: Video game application state synchronization across multiple devices
U.S. Patent No. 8,764,555: Video game application state synchronization across multiple devices Issued Jul. 1, 2014, to Nextbit Systems Inc. Summary: The ‘555 patent deals with the issue of synchronized gaming. It…