Posts
See You at Triangle Games 2010!
If you’re planning to attend the 2010 Triangle Games Conference in Raleigh, NC, please stop by and say ‘hello’! Steve, Ross, and Shawn are presenting a panel on recent developments in video…
ABA IP Section Spring Conference is coming up!
For attorneys, this is the one annual conference that IP lawyers cannot afford to miss. Now in its 25th anniversary year, the Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference of the ABA Section of…
Appeal Update & Decision: Fenner Investments Ltd. v. Microsoft et al.
Back in 2007, Fenner Investment Ltd. sued Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,297,751, relating to low voltage joystick port interfaces. Claim 1 is reproduced below: 1.…
Case Update: Bissoon-Dath v. Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Inc.
On Friday, March 5, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted Sony’s motion for summary judgment in Bissoon-Dath v. Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Inc., Case No.…
Ross Dannenberg Speaking at GDC 3/11 and 3/13/10
Hey everyone, if you’re at GDC 2010, I will be speaking at the following two sessions: Video Game IP – What You Need to Know NOWSpeaker: Ross Dannenberg (Partner, Banner & Witcoff,…
Outrageous! Why am I Outraged?
So word has hit the Internet that Facebook’s U.S. Patent No. 7,669,123, entitled “Dynamically Providing a News Feed About a User of a Social Network,” issued last week, and it’s certainly created…
BOOK RELEASE: Computer Games and Virtual Worlds
The Patent Arcade is pleased to announce that a new book co-edited by our own Ross Dannenberg (i.e., me), and partly authored by our own Steve Chang, is now available for purchase…
Coming soon: New book on Video Game IP Law
We’re getting close… Stay tuned for more information about our new book. I am one of the editors, along with others from my committee at the American Bar Association: Computer Games and…
SAVING PROGRESS…DO NOT SHUT OFF CONSOLE
Every gamer has anxiously awaited this message to appear – you may have just beaten the final boss level after several unsuccessful attempts or you may have finally beaten a friend’s high…
Case Update: Konami and Harmonix AGREE on something!
In an interesting development in the ongoing dispute between Harmonix and Konami over the hammer-on technology in the Rock Band/Guitar Hero games, they have filed a JOINT motion to stay proceedings: Date…
Licensing Executives Society (LES) Celebrates 45 Years
I usually don’t report press release type stuff, but the LES is an important part of game development. Namely, licensing content is a HUGE part of game creation, design, and development. I…
Beneficial Innovations, Inc. v. Blockdot, Inc. et al.
As previously reported, Beneficial Innovations, Inc. (“Beneficial”) filed suit in the Eastern District of Texas accusing several entities of willfully infringing claims of U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,702 entitled “Method and system for…
Case Update: No Doubt v. Activision Publishing Inc.
Activision has responded in federal court to a lawsuit originally filed in California state court by No Doubt over Activision’s use of the band’s likeness in “Band Hero.” According to Activision, the…
Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft Just Can’t Control Themselves
With the growing popularity of video game systems such as Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, it seems that all sorts of patent holders are coming out of the…
Case Update: Innovention Toys v. MGA Entertainment Inc.
Further to our previous report, a motion for reconsideration was filed by MGA Entertainment Inc. and the retailer defendants in this case, and on November 17, 2009, that motion was denied by…
Checkmate for Innovention?
Innovention Toys LLC (“Innovention”) previously filed suit against MGA Entertainment Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys R Us Inc. for allegedly infringing U.S. Patent No. 7,264,242, (“the ‘242 patent”) entitled “Light Reflecting…
Back on Stage in the Guitar Hero/Gibson Suit?
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., along with a host of game retailers, is asking a court in Tennessee to resume proceedings in a patent suit brought by Gibson Guitar Corporation over the “Guitar…
Copyright in Screen Shots – Sony v. Bleem (9th Cir. 2000)
Sony Computer Entertainment America v. Bleem, LLC 214 F.3d 1022 (9th Cir. 2000) Background Bleem marketed a software emulator that allowed users to play Sony Playstation games on their personal computers. Bleem’s…
Article: The great free beer debate…
A colleague from across the pond, David Musker of RGC Jenkins, forwarded to me an interesting (and humorous) article that he wrote back in 2007. It’s a funny tongue-in-cheek perspective on the…
Case Update: Worlds.com v. NCSoft (E.D.Tex., filed Dec. 24, 2008)
This litigation has been transferred to the Northern District of California (San Francisco Division). Specifically, NCSoft filed a motion in the Eastern District of Texas alleging that, other than the marketing and…