Intellectual Property Law

News: Konami sues Viacom over Rock Band

Posted on July 11, 2008
Konami Digital Entertainment Co. v. Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.No. 6:08-CV-286, (E.D. Tx, Filed July 9, 2008)Summary by Steve Chang, Esq.If you build it, they will come. The tagline from Kevin Costner?s baseball film ?Field of Dreams? seems appropriate to describe patent litigation...

Case: Sega v. Accolade (9th Cir. 1992) - Copyright Fair Use

Posted on July 11, 2008
Sega Enterprises Ltd. v. Accolade Inc.977 F.2d 1510 (9th Cit. 1992)If you owned a Sega Genesis at any time in your life, chances are you will NEVER forget the singsong jingle Sega played every time you started up your system. Who would have thought that the unforgettable sound effect you grew to love (or hate) had a secret agenda? The inclusion of Sega?s logo during the beginning of every game actually started out as part of an anti-piracy measure, and became the flashpoint of an important copyright lawsuit affecting reverse engineering and the gaming industry in 1992...

Case Update: Anascape v. Nintendo

Posted on June 30, 2008
As indicated in a previous post, Anascape Ltd., an invention and license-holding company, sued Microsoft and Nintendo for patent infringement over their controllers for their respective video game console systems. Microsoft settled before trial. Nintendo went to trial and lost...

New Case: Nintendo v. Nyko (W.D. Wash.) Filed June 10, 2008

Posted on June 16, 2008
Nintendo of America Inc. v. Nyko Technologies Inc.Case number 08-cv-907U.S. District Court for the Western District of WashingtonNintendo of America filed a lawsuit on June 10, 2008, against Nyko Technologies, in the Western District of Washington, alleging patent and treademark infringement...

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News: Sandra Day O'Connor, Game Designer

Posted on June 05, 2008
So this blog tracks video game IP law updates, but here is a morsel that I just had to comment on: Sandra Day O'Connor (yes, THE Sandra Day O'Connor, i.e., the first woman ever appointed to the United States Supreme Court) is collaborating with Parsons The New School For Design on an online, interactive civic education project for seventh- and eighth-graders, and recently gave a presentation on the topic at the Games for Change conference (hosted at Parsons)...

Case: Anascape Ltd. v. Microsoft et al. (E.D.Tex. 2008) [P]

Posted on May 16, 2008
Back in July 2006, Anascape Ltd. sued Microsoft and Nintendo over various game controller patents, including United States Patent Numbers 5,999,084; 6,102,802; 6,135,886; 6,208,271; 6,222,525; 6,343,991; 6,344,791; 6,347,997; 6,351,205; 6,400,303; 6,563,415; and 6,906,700...

Case: In re Bilski - Federal Circuit oral argument

Posted on May 08, 2008
The status quo is that video game play methods are patentable subject matter, provided the game play methodology is new, useful, and nonobvious. Never before has there been a case with the potential to limit video game patents as with the In re Bilski appeal...

News: Korean Copyright Suit over Advent Rising

Posted on April 15, 2008
I don't normally track foreign video game cases, but perhaps I should. However, it does make one more category of work for me in view of all my regular work and blogging efforts. If only I had some help... In any event, a reader (thanks Tim!) passed this morsel along, and its worth sharing...

News: Disney to shutter Virtual Magic Kingdom

Posted on April 15, 2008
Disney has announced that its Virtual Magic Kingdom will close May 21, 2008,... for good. The VMK is no longer accepting new users, either. Disney's VMK was launched in 2005 as a promotional tool, and turned out to be much more. About 15,000 people per day still log in and, chat, play, and explore in the VMK...

Case: Eros v. Simon (SETTLED 2007) - Second Life

Posted on April 07, 2008
Somehow this well reported case got overlooked here at the Patent Arcade, and that appears to be because I thought I'd already written about it. In any event, it now gets its own post...On October 24, 2007, six content owners in Second Life sued Thomas Simon, aka Rase Kenzo, for infringing their copyrights in various online goods...

News: IBM to host private Second Life regions

Posted on April 03, 2008
IBM said today that it would become the first company to host private regions of the virtual world Second Life on its own computer servers. if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object(); window.yzq_d['rMuhOkLEYpU-']='&U=1270rgt1l%2fN%3drMuhOkLEYpU-%2fC%3d-1%2fD%3dRMP%2fB%3d-1'; The project is in testing and will go live within several weeks...

Case: Tafas v. Dudas (USPTO rules)

Posted on April 01, 2008
Today the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted Tafas' and Smithkline Beecham's Motions for Summary Judgment, effectively holding that the USPTO's proposed 5/25 and 2+1 rules regarding claims and continuation practice are illegal, and therefore null and void...

Visit the Patent Arcade in Second Life

Posted on March 31, 2008
I now have a presence in Second Life, on the PG (i.e., ok for all ages) region of Pumori. My XboxLIVE gamertage is Aviator, so naturally keeping with the theme my SL avatar is Aviator Kidd. Our Second Life Outpost is lakeside in Pumori. Stop by and say hello...

LINKS! LINKS! LINKS!

Posted on March 31, 2008
I've received a number of requests to link to other web sites. I guess that is a good thing, and means people actually read this blog! I don't have room for all of them on the sidebar, so I have created this post to manage links to other sites. If you want to cross-link, let me know, and I will keep this post updated...

News: Second Life creates Brand Center to protect its trademarks

Posted on March 25, 2008
As Second Life matures, they are taking some fairly customary steps, one of which is to take a more proactive role to protect their own intellectual property. In this vein, Linden Labs has created the Second Life Brand Center, which details the proper and improper use of Linden Labs trademarks...

Case Update: MDY v Blizzard - Summary Judgment Motions

Posted on March 24, 2008
Well it looks like this case has not settled yet, and the parties have filed their summary judgment motions. MDY's Motion can be viewed here. Let me know if you have a link for Blizzard's filings.

Case: Eros v. Leatherwood (Settled, March 2008)

Posted on March 15, 2008
Eros, the maker of the Second Life sex bed, sued the avatar Volkov Catteneo for illegally copying and selling unlicensed copies of the sex bed, thereby infringement the intellectual property of Eros. After serving subpoenas on PayPal, Linden Labs, Charter Communications and AT&T, Volkov was determined to be Robert Leatherwood...

Patent: 6,264,560 - USPTO grants re-exam request

Posted on March 14, 2008
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office agreed to re-examine online-gaming patent 6,264,560 after the Electronic Frontier Foundation challenged it on the grounds that the technology covered by the patent had been used extensively before it was issued.The patent is entitled ?Method and system of playing games on a network? and allegedly claims all Internet gaming systems that use tournament-style play, display advertisements and have real-time updates of rankings in multiplayer games...

Case: Activision v. Gibson (C.D.Cal.) PENDING

Posted on March 12, 2008
After receiving a letter accusing them of patent infringement, Activision filed a declaratory judgment action March 12, 2008, against Gibson Guitars, asking the court for finding of invalidity and noninfringement. Gibson is asserting that it has a patent on a musical performance simulation, which Gibson alleges Activision infringes via its popular Guitar Hero games...

Case: Romantics v. Activision (E.D.Mich) - Publicity

Posted on February 27, 2008
The re-performance of a song for use in a video game pursuant to a non-exclusive synchronization license does not, without more, violate the original artists' right of publicity, even if the artists are referenced, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan held Jan...

Article: Hey, that's MY game!

Posted on February 27, 2008
Ever wonder what the basic principles are for protecting your video game based on intellectual property law? Steve and I wrote this article, recently published on Gamasutra, that provides a brief introduction to what you need to know to help protect your game and your brand...

Case: MGA v Ubisoft (Settled)

Posted on February 14, 2008
From IP Law360:MGA Entertainment, makers of the popular Bratz dolls, will hand over $13.2 million to video game company Ubisoft Entertainment, after an arbitrator ruled that Ubisoft had not violated theBratz trademark but MGA had violated a contract between the two companies...

News: Man saves lives playing AMERICA'S ARMY

Posted on January 20, 2008
Ok, "saves lives" may be a bit of an exaggeration, but what is true is that a North Carolina man assisted passengers from an SUV he saw flip on a highway, using skills he learned playing America's Army. Paxton Galvanek, who pulled people from vehicle after it flipped, said he learned about controlling bleeding from playing section two of the "medic" class training in America's Army, a game developed by the Army as a recruitment tool...

The Patent Pal browser toolbar

Posted on January 12, 2008
I came across a great resource for patent practitioners: The Patent Pal. The Patent Pal is a toolbar for your browser that has links to massive amounts of resources that patent practitioners use on a daily basis. Everything from various patent databases, laws, rules, etc...

News: MMOGs on the rise

Posted on January 03, 2008
The trend continues, and MMOGs are getting even more popular. Here are a couple recent articles that you might find of interest:From WIRED, this article discusses three new MMOGs being released in 2008 that have potential to be huge.From the NY Times, this article discusses the popularity of MMOGs among kids.

News: Chinese lawsuit over virtual goods

Posted on January 03, 2008
As reported by Virtually Blind, Shanda, developer of MMORPG The World of Legend, has been ordered to pay 5,000 Yuan (US $679) and apologize to a gamer for taking away his virtual tools, reports Pacific Epoch. The gamer discovered six virtual items worth more than 1,500 Yuan (US $204) missing from his game account on November 22, 2006 (perhaps the Sword of 1,000 Truths), and contacted Shanda regarding the disappearance...

Case Update: Lonestar v. Nintendo (E.D.Tex.)

Posted on December 17, 2007
Lonestar Inventions LP v. Nintendo of America Inc., case no. 6:07-cv-00261 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.This lawsuit between patent-holding company Lonestar Inventions LP and gaming conglomerate Nintendo Inc. will play out in mediation after a federal judge ordered the two companies to try their case before a mediator on Thursday, Dec, 13, 2007...

News: Second Life CTO resigns

Posted on December 13, 2007
Sorry I've been radio silent for a while. Life has been busy, you know how it goes...In any event, it appears that Cory Ondrejka, employee No. 4 at San Francisco-based Linden Lab, which owns Second Life, quit Tuesday and will depart at the end of the year...

Case: CBC v. Major League Baseball

Posted on November 15, 2007
C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P., et al. --- F.3d ---, 2007 WL 2990366, 84 U.S.P.Q.2d 1328 (8th Cir. 2007) In a much watched case, on October 16, 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit decided C...

Case: MicroUnity v. SCEA Settles

Posted on November 06, 2007
Word on the street is that MicroUnity and Sony Computer Entertainment America have settled their ongoing patent dispute regarding Sony's PlayStation products. The two companies have asked for a 30-day stay of all deadlines in the pending litigation in the Eastern District of Texas so they can put the finishing touches on their settlement agreement...

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