Activision triumphs in ‘meritless’ patent case
A patent infringement claim against US-based video games producer Activision Blizzard has been dismissed by a California court.
Animator McRO filed the case in the US District Court for the Central District of California, claiming the video game producer had infringed patents 6,307,576 and 6,611,278 covering lip synchronisation and 3D facial expressions in video games. The patents were both filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office in November 2012.
At the centre of the dispute was the ‘shoot ’em up’ franchise Call of Duty,as well as the adventure game Skylanders, both produced by Activision Blizzard.
Judge George Wu dismissed the claims made by the animator, citing the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Alice Corporation v CLS Bank International that computer-implemented inventions are not patentable.
Chris Walther, chief legal officer of Activision Blizzard, said: “Meritless patent cases such as this stifle innovation and the creative process across the industry.”
“We will aggressively defend our investments in the innovative franchises at Activision Publishing and Blizzard Entertainment, as we did in this case with Call of Duty, Skylanders and Star Craft II, from entities whose sole purpose is to use patent litigation to hold innovative companies captive for monetary gain,” he added.
So far, McRO has not responded to requests for comment.
It is not the first time the animator has filed litigation proceedings related to these patents. They were subject to a dispute with games producer THQ, which eventually ended in a settlement in September 2013 with the producer paying $600,000 to the animator.
Other games developers such as Electronic Arts, Disney and Sony have also been subject to litigation from the animator over alleged infringements of patents ’576 and ’278.
