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Lawsuits

Epic v. Apple: Changes in the Apple App Store to Come

Epic v. Apple: Changes in the Apple App Store to Come Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc. Decided September 10, 2021 United States District Court for the Northern District of California Case…

4:20-cv-05640 Antitrust App Store Apple
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 11,007,445: Techniques for curation of video game clips

U.S. Patent No. 11,007,445: Techniques for curation of video game clips Issued May 18, 2021, to Lenovo Singapore Pte LtdFiled/Priority to August 16, 2019 Overview: U.S. Patent No. 11,007,445 (the ‘445 patent)…

11007445 clip curation clip search terms clip selection
Analysis

Is Fortnite’s Imposter Mode Kind of Sus?

Is Fortnite’s Imposter Mode Kind of Sus? The popular game maker Epic Games, Inc. (“Epic”) has continually tried to maintain the popular game Fortnite’s relevance through consistent updates, including concerts and new…

35 U.S.C. § 102 35 USC 101 35 USC 102 Among Us
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 10,930,044: Control system for virtual characters

U.S. Patent No. 10,930,044: Control system for virtual characters Issued February 23, 2021, to Mursion Inc.Filed: October 16, 2019 (claiming priority to November 6, 2015) Overview: U.S. Patent No. 10,930,044 (the ‘044…

10930044 behavior Character Control Control system for virtual characters
News

Recent Video Game Patent Trends at the EPO

Friend of the blog Tom Hamer, of European IP firm Kilburn & Strode, recently posted an article exploring patent filing trends at the EPO related to video game technologies.  He found that…

News

Electronic Arts Pledges to Share Innovative Technologies Which Help Disabled Gamers

Electronic Arts Pledges to Share Innovative Technologies Which Help Disabled Gamers Electronic Arts (“EA”) has pledged to help breakdown barriers for players with disabilities or medical issues through sharing technologies which help…

accessibility accommodation disabilities EA
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 6,251,010: Game machine apparatus and method with enhanced time-related display of pokemon-type characters

U.S. Patent No. 6,251,010: Game machine apparatus and method with enhanced time-related display of pokemon-type characters Issued June 26, 2001, Nintendo Co., Ltd., Game Freak Inc., and Creatures Inc. Filed: May 18,…

6251010 Clock Creatures Creatures Inc.
Analysis

Animation Frames Patents Spotlight

Animation Frames Patents Spotlight Earlier this week we covered the tight inbetweening patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,451,277 (the ‘277 patent). This patent involved the computer-generation of inbetween frames in animation, inbetweens being…

35 U.S.C. 101 3D 3D animation 6307576
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 8,451,277: Tight inbetweening

U.S. Patent No. 8,451,277: Tight inbetweening Issued May 28, 2013 Filing/Priority to July 24, 2009 Overview: U.S. Patent No. 8,451,277 (the ‘277 patent) relates to computer-generated animation inbetweens (frames in-between key frames…

8451277 animation animation tool animator
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 10,140,271: Dynamic adaptation of a narrative across different types of digital media

U.S. Patent No. 10,140,271: Dynamic adaptation of a narrative across different types of digital media Issued November 27, 2018, to Telltale Inc. (currently assigned to Lcg Entertainment Inc.) Filed/Priority to December 16,…

10140271 Branching narrative digital media Dynamic adaptation of a narrative across different types of digital media
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 6,595,858: Image-display game system

U.S. Patent No. 6,595,858: Image-display game system Issued July 22, 2003, to Nintendo Co. Ltd., Game Freak Inc., and Creatures Inc. Filed: June 1, 2000 (claiming priority to August 26, 1999) Overview:…

6595858 Creatures Creatures Inc. Effort Value
Analysis

28th Anniversary of Magic: The Gathering – A discussion of IP Considerations – Part Three

28th Anniversary of Magic: The Gathering – A discussion of IP Considerations – Part Three By Sandy Rokhlin* This is the third and final post in our MTG Intellectual Property series, click…

28th anniversary card CCG Collectible card game
Lawsuits

Sega Sued for So-Called Skills

Sega Sued for So-Called Skills Muto v. Sega Am. Inc.Case No. 5:21-cv-1161The United States District Court for the Central District of California Eastern DivisionFiled: July 12, 2021 On July 12, 2021, a…

arcade arcade machine class action common law fraud
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 10,702,767: Integrated multi environment interactive battle game

U.S. Patent No. 10,702,767: Integrated multi environment interactive battle game Issued July 7, 2020, to Hasbro Inc.Filed: December 12, 2018 (claiming priority to December 14, 2017) Overview: U.S. Patent No. 10,702,767 (the…

10702767 Battle arena beyblade Beyblade battle arena
Analysis

28th Anniversary of Magic: The Gathering – A discussion of IP Considerations – Part Two

28th Anniversary of Magic: The Gathering – A discussion of IP Considerations – Part Two By Sandy Rokhlin* This is the second post in our MTG Intellectual Property series, please click here…

alter alteration art artist
Lawsuits

Hasbro’s Right of Ownership to the Game of Life’s IP Affirmed

Hasbro’s Right of Ownership to the Game of Life’s IP Affirmed Markham Concepts v. HasbroUnited States Court of Appeals for the First CircuitCase No. 19-1927Filed: Sept. 26, 2019 The Game of Life…

17 USC 101 Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid Copyright Copyright Act
Patent Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 10,709,981: Systems and methods for the real-time generation of in-game, locally accessible barrier-aware heatmaps

U.S. Patent No. 10,709,981: Systems and methods for the real-time generation of in-game, locally accessible barrier-aware heatmaps Issued July 14, 2020 to Activision Publishing Inc.Filed: December 5, 2018 (claiming priority to November…

10709981 Activision Publishing Activision Publishing Inc generating blurred heatmap
Analysis

28th Anniversary of Magic: The Gathering – A discussion of IP Considerations – Part One

28th Anniversary of Magic: The Gathering – A discussion of IP Considerations – Part One By Sandy Rokhlin* Magic: The Gathering (“MTG”) has been around for nearly 30 years, with a new…

28th anniversary 5662332 Alice Alice Corp v. CLS Bank
Lawsuits

Lawsuit Update: Pokémon GOes Scot-Free

Lawsuit Update: Pokémon GOes Scot-Free Barbaro Tech., LLC v. Niantic, Inc.Case No. 21-1249The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitDecided: July 9, 2021 In 2018, Barbaro Technologies, LLC (“Barbaro”) sued…

7373377 8228325 barbaro technologies Barbaro Technologies v. Niantic