‘Assassin’s Creed’ publisher sued over graphics patent
Video game publisher Ubisoft has been accused of infringing graphics patents with its hit titles “Assassin’s Creed” and “Far Cry”.
The claims were filed by Infernal Technologies, which licensed the patents from Texas video game publisher Terminal Reality, yesterday, May 27.
Terminal Reality, best known for developing titles like “Bloodrayne”, “Ghostbusters”, and “Nocturne”, was reported to have gone out of business in 2013. But the Texas company has since popped up alongside licensee Infernal in several patent suits and is listed as a plaintiff alongside Infernal in the Ubisoft complaint.
Infernal, which has been accused of being a “ patent troll”, has previously sued Microsoft and “FIFA” publisher Electronic Arts (EA) over the graphic simulation technology, which it said it exclusively licensed from Infernal in 2014.
The patent survived a 2016 inter partes review (IPR) at the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board, which instituted the proceedings after a complaint from EA.
It covers a technique for rendering light in video game graphics. According to Infernal, the patented technique, known as ‘deferred rendering’, is used without its permission in games like “Assassin's Creed Odyssey” and “Far Cry V”.
Infernal is asking for damages and royalties for the alleged infringement, “including pre-and-post judgment interest and costs, including expenses and disbursements”.
It is the latest in a series of high-profile video game patent and copyright lawsuits, involving some of the world’s biggest developers and publishers.
Ubisoft itself sued Google, Apple, and an Alibaba company over a so-called “ clone” of the popular “Rainbow Six: Siege” (RS6).
Cloning involves making a new game, often for mobiles or tablets, that copies or is extremely similar to a more well-known title. The RS6 case will be closely watched by the video game industry, as the general IP issues around cloning have yet to be fully resolved.
Just last week, meanwhile, Bandai Namco and Blizzard, the video game developers and publishers behind “Pac-Man” and “World of Warcraft”, respectively, were cleared of infringing a graphics patent owned by non-practicing entity McRO.
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