Activision Blizzard has lost a lawsuit that has occupied them since 2015. The tech incubator Acceleration Bay convinced a US jury that the gaming studio has violated two patents from the company. This concerns World of Warcraft (WoW) and Call of Duty (CoD): Black Ops II, as well as Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
What is the patent in question? The company Acceleration Bay filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in 2015: Acceleration Bay had acquired two patents from Boeing. These pertain to communication technology that allows sharing information between computers simultaneously. So, they are patents for network and transmission technology.
Activision Blizzard is alleged to have violated copyright when they used the patented technology in 3 of their games.
Therefore, the plaintiffs demanded “reasonable compensation for Activision Blizzard’s patent infringement.”
This was Activision Blizzard’s position: They stated that their technology works differently from the plaintiff’s patents and therefore does not infringe on the plaintiff’s copyright.
Additionally, they argued that damages should be capped at a maximum of $300,000.
WoW is still a relevant game in 2024, the lawsuit is from 2015:
This is what the jury decided: The jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff on Friday:
- For copyright violations in World of Warcraft, Activision Blizzard must pay $18 million.
- For copyright violations in Call of Duty, a total of $5.4 million is due.
Activision Blizzard to file an appeal
This is what Activision Blizzard says: They issued a statement saying they are disappointed but believe they have a good basis for an appeal. They have never used patented technology in their games.
This is what the plaintiffs say: They said in their statement that they are “thrilled” about the decision.
The lawyer added that the team is excited to have finally been in court after 9 years.
As Gamesindustry.biz reports, Activision Blizzard is not the only company Acceleration Bay is currently suing. They have pending lawsuits against EA, Take-Two, and Amazon Web Services. All these cases were opened in the last 5 years.
Activision Blizzard had a rough phase in 2021 with several court dates. During that time, allegations arose against the company that there was a climate of sexism and that women were systematically treated worse than their male colleagues: “Cocaine in the bathroom, sex in the lounge” – Scandal surrounding WoW developer Blizzard escalates
