Activision Has To Pay $23.4M For Patent Infringement
A jury has ruled Activision liable for patent infringement, ordering the publisher to pay $23.4 million in damages.
insider-gaming.com
Activision Blizzard has been found guilty of patent infringement, and must pay Acceleration Bay $23.4 million. The ruling came down from a jury on May 3 after a nine year legal battle.
According to the verdict, Activision infringed on two Acceleration Bay patents that related to networking and broadcasting technology. These technologies were then used in various Activision games’ multiplayer.
The jury came back with a ruling that Activision was liable for $18M for infringement within World of Warcraft and $5.4M for infringement in two Call of Duty titles.
When deciding on a verdict and amount, the jury was asked two questions. The first question was whether Acceleration Bay proved “by as preponderance of the evidence” that Activision infringed on the patents. The second was to determine a monetary amount that would “fairly and reasonably compensate Acceleration Bay”.
In addition to its lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, Acceleration Bay has similar patent infringement cases going against Take-Two and EA.
Insider Gaming has reached out to Activision Blizzard for comment on the verdict. As of publishing, no response has been received.
