IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Priceline Parent Company Suing Zynga and Activision Over Tournament Patent

Posted January 5, 2011 by M.H. Williams

In 2002, Walker Digital, parent company of discount travel site Priceline.com, received a patent (U.S. Patent Number 6,425,828) for a “database driven online distributed tournament system.” Today, the company has filed a lawsuit against Zynga and Activision Blizzard, alleging that the two companies are infringing against that patent.

The patent details a system for “a distributed electronic tournament system in which many remotely located players participate in a tournament through input/output devices connected to a central controller which manages the tournament." It also includes systems for entry fee payments by players, storing player info, determining player advancement and disqualification and awarding players prizes for such online tournaments.

The lawsuit explains that both companies have infringed on that patent in a total of twenty-four products, including the last four Call of Duty titles, Blur, DJ Hero 2, World of Warcraft, and Mafia Wars.

Walker Digital is looking for an undisclosed amount in compensation for damages, as specific damages "cannot presently be quantified but will be ascertained through discovery or at trial.” It is requesting a trial by jury in the complaint filed with the Delaware U.S District Court.

Walker Digital is also currently suing Facebook for patent infringement in an unrelated case - software patent trolling at its best.

[Via TechCrunch and Gamasutra]

M.H. Williams has been writing in some form or another for ten years and has been a hardcore gamer since the NES first graced American shores.  You can catch him on Twitter as @AutomaticZen, Google+ as himself, or on his personal Facebook page.