Microsoft, Sony, EA, Ubisoft, Capcom, and more accused of infringing on Walker Digital patents for online leaderboard, tournament functions.
In January, Walker Digital, an R&D outfit chaired by Priceline.com creator Jay Walker, filed suit against game publishers Activision Blizzard and Zynga, claiming the pair infringed on patents it holds regarding online gaming tournaments. While both companies have filed their own countersuits in that case, Walker Digital isn’t slowing down its patent litigation process.
This month has seen Walker Digital touch off two more legal battles with a wide-ranging assortment of adversaries. Earlier this week, the company filed a new suit alleging infringements to the online tournament patent, with Microsoft, Sony, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Capcom, Konami, Sega, Square Enix, and THQ named as defendants. Games allegedly violating the patent include Marvel vs. Capcom 3, BioShock 2, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Madden NFL 11, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Halo: Reach, Gears of War 2, Killzone 3, Red Dead Redemption, and more.
Additionally, earlier this month Walker Digital filed a separate suit against 23 companies for patents it holds related to online user features, specifically the ability for players to submit their scores to a server so that they can be compared with those of others. Defendants in this case are a more diverse group, with studios like Turbine, Cryptic, and CCP North America named alongside multinational conglomerates like the Walt Disney Company, Yahoo, and Microsoft. Other game-specific outfits named in the suit include Sony Computer Entertainment America, Sony Online Entertainment, Activision Blizzard, Valve, Atari, OnLive, Gaia Interactive, Popcap, and Zynga.
Walker Digital is seeking unspecified damages in both suits.
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