News
Publishing Rights for Original “Psychonauts” Revert to Double Fine
Double Fine Obtains Publishing Rights to “Psychonauts” As of June 14, 2011, the rights to the hit 2005 adventure game, Psychonauts, have reverted to its original publisher Double Fine. Previously, Double Fine…
Ads for XBox – NUads
Ads on Xbox As advertising continues to evolve for game platforms, the New York Times reports that Microsoft is set to launch a new suite of advertising tools called NUads (short for…
Case Update: PPC v. Sony (E.D.Tex, filed 7/26/07)
Parallel Processing Corporation v. Sony Corporation of America United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas Case No. 07-353, Filed July 26, 2007 Case Update: This case was dismissed without prejudice on…
News: Forterra Systems sues Avatar Factory
Forterra Systems, Inc. v. Avatar Factory case 5:05-cv-04472-PVT, N.D. Cal Case Update: Following a confidential settlement by the parties, this case was dismissed with prejudice on January 17, 2008. Original Post: Forterra…
News: Nintendo has a Wii patent problem
Case Update: This case is now closed. On March 7, 2007, plaintiff Interlink filed a voluntary dismissal of the case under FRCP 41(a) 1. Specifically this allows for the plaintiff to dismiss…
Law360 Article: Virtual-World Conflicts Lead To Real-World Suits
There’s an interesting article on Law360 today: Virtual-World Conflicts Lead To Real-World Suits. Here’s an excerpt from the article: Law360, New York (June 08, 2010) — As the market for online games…
Kotaku Census 2010: The Full Results
Kotaku’s full census results are in, and there are some interesting points… Re Consoles:– 65% of you own multiple consoles, while a quarter of participating Kotaku readers are in possession of all…
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…
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,…
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…
Free passes to Engage Expo!
Just announced this morning, Engage Expo is giving away 200 free expo-only passes. Engage! Expo, taking place September 23-24 at the San Jose Convention Center, provides insight into the best practices, current…
News: New Patent Assigned to Microsoft
Kotaku reports that last week Microsoft was assigned U.S. Patent No. 7,559,834, filed in 2002, for “Dynamic join/exit of players during play of console-based video game.” This patent claims “A squad-based shooter…
News: Midway bankruptcy dispute…
From Law360: An entertainment licensing company has begun legal combat with bankrupt video game producer Midway Games Inc. over the licenses for movies, television shows, live action productions and other properties based…
Conan the Mushroom King
CONAN THE MUSHROOM KING So we’ve noticed some buzz on the Internet lately about the backdrop to Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show set. The guys at Serious Lunch posted the backdrop, and what…
News: First software patent issued!
On this day in history, as reported by Wired.com, on May 26, 1981, the USPTO granted the first pure software patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,270,182, to Satya Pal Asija. Video games are…
News: bits and, well, more bits…
Two items of note, one of which is in two parts: 1) Square Enix reportedly kills Chrono Trigger fan project based on alleged copyright infringement. 2) Duke Nukem Forever news…2.1) 3 minutes…
News: Patent Arcade author handles one of the highest profile virtual law cases.
The San Francisco Chronicle ran a nice article today about virtual law, including quotes from yours truly. The high point (at least in MY opinion): But some attorneys set up virtual offices…
Video game trademark dispute brewing over OCTOMOM…
On April 10, 2009, Nadya Suleman, who became famous in January when she gave birth to octuplets, filed a pair of trademark applications at the USPTO. She wants to use the mark…
News: Pirate Bay Operators Found Guilty
On a related note… If you haven’t already heard, the four men connected to The Pirate Bay, the world’s most notorious file sharing site, were convicted by a Swedish court Friday of…
Triangle Game Conference
We will be attending the Triangle Game Conference in Raleigh, NC, on April 29-30. Please let us know if you will be there and would like to meet. Steve Change from my…