Intellectual Property Law

News: Second Life IP theft lawsuit

Posted on November 01, 2007
More Second Life news: As reported in the New York Post, a half-dozen entrepreneurs are suing a Queens man, charging him with counterfeiting and selling versions of their products. Here's the catch: The products aren't real, and the alleged crimes took place in the virtual world of Second Life on the Web...

News: Change in Second Life ownership policy???

Posted on October 29, 2007
As originally reported on Terra Nova, Linden Labs appears to have made a potentially significant change to the wording on its home page. The home page used to read:?Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined, created and owned by its residents? But now it reads: ?Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined and created by its residents?The post on Terra Nova has an interesting string of comments...

News: Potential DMCA fair use relief on the way?

Posted on October 29, 2007
As reported on GamePolitics.com, Later today the ECA will announce its support for HR1201, known as the Fair Use Act of 2007. The proposed legislation will give consumers limited rights to circumvent technological control measures for private, noncommercial uses that would otherwise be protected under the DMCA...

Michigan Law School - First Impressions' Symposium

Posted on October 17, 2007
Well it's not strictly video game IP law, but it certainly applies to video games and explores, in view of KSR, how easy it may or may not be to obtain patent protection for game play methods, so should be worth checking out:The Michigan Law Review?s companion journal First Impressions today published an online symposium on the Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit, and Patent Law...

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News: Microsoft spins off Bungie Studios

Posted on October 08, 2007
Well its old news by now, but in case you haven't heard, Microsoft and Bungie announced on Friday that Bungie has split off from Microsoft, becoming an independent entity. Bungie will still work on the Halo franchise for Microsoft, but will be free to develop other IP as well...

Second Life ToS: Leave your patents at home

Posted on September 28, 2007
Ok, I've spent the better part of two evenings finishing the campaign mode in Halo 3, so it's about time to come out of my self-induced Halo 3 fog. A colleague of mine and I were discussing about a month or so ago the fact that Linden Lab's terms of service for Second Life are very prohibitive of patents and patent rights being enforced by SL residents...

Day of rest in honor of Halo 3

Posted on September 24, 2007
Hey everyone, I was on vacation last week, so there were no new posts last week.As for this week, in honor of Halo 3, there will be no post this week either (i.e., I expect to be too busy playing Halo 3 to be able to post this week....)We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week...

Case: Frosty Treats v. Sony [T]

Posted on September 10, 2007
Frosty Treats Inc. v. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. 426 F.3d 1001 (8th Cir. 2005) I scream, You scream, We all scream for Ice Cream! Sony was sued over its use of an ice cream truck and clown character in its Twisted Metal video game series...

Patent: U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,289 (Bingoes)

Posted on September 04, 2007
United States Patent No. 5,482,289Method of Playing a BINGO Game with Progressive Jackpot Issued on January 9, 1996 to Gary Weingardt and assigned to Gary Weingardt Trust. Summary: In case you were bored with the original game, or thought that BINGO was a game for your grandparents? This patent attempts to create a more challenging BINGO game than the traditional by adding two columns and two rows to the BINGO card and adding an additional 72 numbered balls...

Case Update: MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. et al

Posted on August 27, 2007
MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. et al.United States District Court, District of ArizonaCase No. 2:2006cv02555, Filed October 25, 2006 On October 25, 2006, MDY Industries, LLC (?MDY?) filed a declaratory judgment action against Blizzard Entertainment, Inc...

Patent: U.S. Pat. No. 6,992,654 (Character Animation)

Posted on August 20, 2007
United States Patent No. 6,992,654System and Method for Providing User Input to Character Animation Issued on January 31, 2006, to Electronic Arts Inc. Summary: This patent issued to EA, discloses a system and method for providing real-time control over character animation...

Patent: U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,786 (Bingo)

Posted on August 14, 2007
United States Patent No. 5,727,786Bingo Game Method Issued on December 8, 1995 to Inventor Gary Weingardt Summary: This invention attempts to reinvigorate the classic game of Bingo and lure the gamblers away from video poker, slot machines and table games by providing larger bingo jackpots...

News: new Donkey Kong world record

Posted on August 06, 2007
I have a client that I am helping to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. For what? Well that has to wait until the record is published, but suffice it to say that it got me wondering about world records as intellectual property. Ok, I know they're NOT technically IP, but I've always had a fascination with getting world record, so I figure helping someone else do it would be good enough...

News: man gets two years in jail for video game crime.

Posted on August 04, 2007
An Illinois man was sentenced to two years in prison for violating copyright law through the unauthorized sale of video games on his Web site, the U.S. Department of Justice announced late Thursday, August 2, 2007.Timothy W. Hall, of Mount Vernon, Ill...

News: quoted in USA Today re Facebook lawsuit

Posted on July 31, 2007
Well its not a video game lawsuit, but interesting nonetheless. And, yes, this post could be considered shameless self-promotion. Nonetheless, I was recently quoted in USA Today in an article regarding the Facebook lawsuit, and it's even a good sound bite! Usually quotes get taken out of context or they use the quote that you wish you never said (remember the "work hard, play hard" debacle?) In any event, I thought it noteworthy, so enjoy...

Case Update: PPC v. Sony (E.D.Tex, filed 7/26/07)

Posted on July 31, 2007
Parallel Processing Corp. has filed a lawsuit alleging that Sony's PlayStation 3 infringes U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,000, entitled "Synchronized parallel processing with shared memory." Not the sexiest of patents with respect to game console hardware, but given the convergence of game consoles and general purpose computers, it's not surprising...

Patent: U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,954 (Attack Power)

Posted on July 30, 2007
United States Patent No. 6,729,954Battle Method with Attack Power Based on Character Group Density Issued May 4, 2004, assigned to Koei Co., Ltd. Summary: Although the Sam Fishers, John Matrixs, Solid Snakes, and John Rambos of the world would gladly demonstrate how false this premise is, this patent contends a soldier?s attack and defense strength synergizes with the number of surrounding support soldiers...

Is artistic style a new type of Video Game IP?

Posted on July 22, 2007
Courts have held that artists' copyright protection can extend beyond their literal pictorial works, and some courts have even insinuated that an artist can receive copyright expression for their artistic style, e.g., Steinberg v. Columbia Pictures Inc...

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