Gaming Industry IP News: Electronic Arts makes patents available for developer use, Tencent cancels Light of Motiram promotion ahead of hearing with Sony, Umamusume: Pretty Derby developer lawsuit settles, and more

Gaming Industry IP News: Electronic Arts makes patents available for developer use, Tencent cancels Light of Motiram promotion ahead of hearing with Sony, Umamusume: Pretty Derby developer lawsuit settles, and more

In this installment of our gaming IP newsletter, the games industry is preparing for the holiday season, but IP issues can sure be a real grinch. As it is the season of giving, let’s start by looking at a case of a company spreading some holiday cheer.

EA Promotes Accessibility by Making Patents Accessible

GamesIndustry.biz reports that Electronic Arts (EA), as part of its “Accessibility First Patent Pledge,” has made eight patents (seven U.S. patents and one Korean patent) available, royalty-free, for use by other developers. EA has supported this initiative for the past five years, with the goal of eliminating barriers to play. These patents were all issued in the last three years and focus on “grapple assist” (e.g., helping players transition between moves in fighting games) and audio generation (e.g., improving voice generation technology). EA indicates that it hopes to promote the adoption of these accessibility features because, “when you look at features like captions, we see that innovations built for accessibility end up helping a much broader group. Grapple assist is similar. These technologies expand what’s possible.” While the pledge is not without limit (e.g., the license can be terminated if a licensee sues EA for patent infringement), EA’s act of goodwill is a reminder that patents aren’t always acquired with the intent of excluding others from practicing an invention, but can be shared with the public (e.g., to encourage others in the industry to implement certain tools that can make gaming a more accessible hobby to everyone).

Tencent Cancels Light of Motiram Promotion Ahead of Hearing with Sony

We’ve been following Sony’s lawsuit against Tencent for the past few months (covered in our October and November Gaming Industry IP newsletters). As a reminder, Sony sued Tencent in the Northern District of California for allegedly violating Sony’s copyrights and trademarks relating to its “Horizon” series of games. This past month, according to The Game Post, Tencent agreed to, “pause all promotion and public testing” relating to its allegedly infringing Light of Motiram as the lawsuit progresses. This likely resulted from negotiations related to the preliminary injunction Sony requested from the court. Tencent has also been restricted from releasing the game any earlier than Q4 2027. On the surface, it appears as though Tencent is capitulating to many of Sony’s requests. Given this level of accommodation, however, Tencent may be maintaining the possibility of avoiding trial (and, potentially, the ability to eventually release Light of Motiram). Still, suspending all promotion for the game is likely a difficult decision to make. We will continue to follow this story, as the motion to dismiss is set to be addressed by the court at the end of January.

Patent Lawsuit Related to Hit Mobile Game Umamusume: Pretty Derby Settles

A nearly three-year legal conflict between Konami and Umamusume: Pretty Derby developer Cygames reached a settlement this month according to The Express Tribute. Konami had alleged that the mobile game infringed 18 Japanese Konami patents, and sued Cygames in Tokyo District Court after failing to reach a pre-lawsuit agreement. In the lawsuit, Konami sought approximately $29 million in damages and an injunction that could have jeopardized not just production of the Umamusume game, but also other related media projects that were in the works (e.g., films, animated television series, and merchandise). According to IGN, neither company has discussed what subject matter is potentially at issue in the patents. Cygames, according to the report, filed “invalidation trials” against the allegedly infringed patents as part of their response. However, it is unclear what may happen to these invalidation proceedings now that the case has settled. The terms of the settlement, as is usually the case, remain private, though Cygames maintains that the company did not infringe any patents, but settled “to ensure that Umamusume fans can keep enjoying the game with peace of mind.”

It is not unusual for litigation proceedings to drag on for several years prior to settlement. It remains to be seen whether other presently ongoing IP litigation in the video game space (e.g., the Sony-Tencent lawsuit or the Nintendo-PocketPair dispute) will follow a similar timeline.

Roblox Updates its Licensing Platform

Roblox continues to enable users to develop and monetize their own Roblox-based games by updating their licensing platform. Gamesindustry.biz reports that the licensing platform is now self-service, allowing IP holders to offer their IP for use on Roblox. Major IP holders including Sega, Netflix, Lionsgate, and Kodansha have already signed on, and some properties, such as Netflix’s Squid Game, are already being licensed by Roblox creators through this platform. The self-service licensing scheme allows IP holders to add licenses to a license catalog (e.g., licenses to properties under copyright or trademark protection) and evaluate applications from potential creators. Roblox must still approve of the IP being added to the catalogs, but Roblox has now streamlined the process. Roblox’s spearheading of IP integration opens another avenue for IP holders to promote and/or monetize their properties. This licensing framework may also, ideally, reduce the number of takedown notices Roblox receives since there is now an integrated way to obtain a proper license within the Roblox ecosystem. In-game licensing between third parties is becoming an increasingly interesting space as platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, and others become promotional and game distribution environments in their own right (i.e., separate from simply being games).