A California court has dismissed patent infringement claims made by a production company called McRO, Inc. against a number of publishers and developers in the video games industry.
In light of a reformation of patent law under the “Alice” decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, McRO, Inc. sued Naughty Dog, Rockstar, Activision, Valve, Square Enix, and many others for infringement of the patents it held for facial animation of characters in 3D. Fortunately for these companies, the court not only dismissed McRO’s claims, but also invalidated its patents.
District Judge George H. Wu wrote in his decision:
When examined in light of the prior art, the claims are directed to an abstract idea, and lack an ‘inventive concept’ ‘sufficient to ensure that the patent in practice amounts to significantly more than a patent upon the [abstract idea] itself.
Talk about a frivolous lawsuit!
[Source: Gamasutra]
