Activision Has To Pay $23.4M For Patent Infringement

Activision Blizzard has been found liable 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 a statement to Insider Gaming, Activision said it was disappointed with the ruling and will appeal.

“While we are disappointed, we believe there is a strong basis for appeal,” an Activision Spokesperson said. “We have never used the patented technologies at issue in our games.”

Prior to the lawsuit, a spokesperson called the claims baseless due to the age of the patents.

“These are baseless claims. The technology at issue was invented nearly 25 years ago. We have never used it in our games – nor would we,” the spokesperson said.

In addition to its lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, Acceleration Bay has similar patent infringement cases going against Take-Two and EA.

What do you think of the $23.4M verdict against Activision for Patent Infringement? For more Insider Gaming, read all of the details surrounding the closure of four Bethesda studios by Microsoft.