Virtual Worlds News

Zynga Zaps Two with Trademark Lawsuit

Social game maker Zynga filed two complaints in federal district court last week, both alleging trademark infringement. One named Phillip Labrasca a defendant and the other named Duc Doan a defendant.

Both complaints allege the defendants illegally appropriated and used the Zynga trademark in their attempts to deceive and defraud the public. Zynga claims Labrasca and Doan were in the business of selling discounted virtual poker chips to be used in its popular online poker game, Texas Hold'em Poker.

Mafia Wars, Mobsters Meet in Court

Their games, Mafia Wars and Mobsters, run neck and neck as the top game on MySpace and other social networks, but the stakes are too high to let any misunderstanding get settled informally. Hence a lawsuit filed last week by Zynga, developers of Mafia Wars, against Mobsters-maker Playdom.

The complaint centers around the way Playdom advertises its own mob-centered title. Zynga alleges Playdom is deceiving players with ads that "misleadingly associate" its Mobsters game to Zynga’s Mafia Wars. Zynga wants Playdom to take down its "Like Mafia Wars?" ads, pay damages, and run new ads that make a clear distinction between the two games and companies.

Currency $candal Rocks EVE Online

Sci-fi MMORPG EVE Online's world full of player-run banks and corporations got one of its first tastes of virtual white-collar crime. The top executive of the player-run EVE financial institution Ebank, intended as an in-world business that would let other players safely deposit and borrow amounts of in-game virtual currency ISK, embezzled a substantial but unknown sum of ISK deposited by other players. The executive, who went by the online handle Ricdic, sold the embezzled virtual currency to a third-party grey market RMT service in exchange for real-world cash.

Offerpal Files Suit Against Gambit Parent Kickflip

Over the weekend, news emerged that ad offer provider Offerpal Media was filing suit against Kickflip, the parent company of competing social game payment engine Gambit. Offerpal's suit alleges breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unlawful business practices. Offerpal argues that when Kickflip used the Managed Offer Platform as part of two of its online gambling applications, Sports Bets and Bet Arcade, the company unlawfully gathered information about Offerpal's business model through the partnership to develop Gambit.

Worlds.com v. NCsoft Lawsuit On Shaky Ground?

On Christmas Eve of last year, Worlds.com, an early developer in the virtual worlds industry, laid down the gauntlet in Tyler, Texas. It filed a lawsuit in federal district court there accusing Korean game giant NCsoft of infringing its patent no. 7,181,690, a patent it argued conveyed rights to the system architecture behind NCsoft's avatar-based MMORPGs including City of Heroes, City of Villains, Dungeon Runners, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage II, and Tablula Rasa.

On Wednesday, Article One Partners, LLC, a self-described "global community working to legitimize the validity of patents" will lay down its own gauntlet, announcing the outcome of a Patent Validity Study it conducted on the Worlds.com complaint.  

Taser Dismisses Linden Law Suit

Late last month, Taser International filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Linden Lab. Taser alleged that Linden was violating its trademark by selling virtual goods with the brand. The concern was bolstered by the fact that the trademark was popping up in some of Second Life's more adult-oriented stores. 

Yesterday, though, Taser has voluntarily dimissed the case before Linden even answered the complaint, reports Patent Arcade. At the time, observers pointed out that similar claims had been rejected elsewhere and that the case may be a tough one. Shortly after the case was announced, many virtual goods listings were changed to reflect the fact that they were not official Taser products. Regardless, the dismissal is without prejudice and Taser could pick it back up if desired. [via Patent Arcade]

Shocking: Taser Sues Linden

Taser International has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Linden Lab, reports Bloomberg, claiming the publisher is illegitimately selling virtual goods based on the Taser stun guns. the Second Life online virtual world creator over claims it sells unauthorized virtual versions of its stun guns.

Worlds.com V. NCsoft Moved To California

At the end of 2008, Worlds.com filed suit against NCsoft for patent infringement. Specifically, Worlds.com alleged that NCsoft had infringed on patent 7,181,690, "System and Method for Enabling Users to Interact in a Virtual Space."  Earlier this week, Korea-based NCsoft filed an unpposed motion to transfer the case from Texas to California.  Yesterday the judge signed off on the order. It may be significant as outsiders have observed that the Texas district is known for juries that lean towards American plaintiffs. 

"This is likely the result of recent court decisions putting the breaks on plaintiffs forum shopping into the Eastern District of Texas," blogs attorney Ross Dannenberg at Patent Arcade. "However, in view of the fact that Worlds.com did not oppose the motion, the court did not need to make any independent analysis of whether the Eastern Texas wsa proper or not in this case." [via Patent Arcade]

Worlds.com Awarded Third Virtual Worlds Patent, Continues Patent At Heart Of NCsoft Suit

Worlds.com served up a storm of controversy when it filed a complaint against NCsoft in December for infringing on its patent for enabling users to interact in virtual spaces. That patent (No. 7,181,690) has now been extended in a continuation through U.S. Patent No. 7,493,558, which Worlds' representative General Patent Corporation announced had been awarded today.  Both patents are titled "System and Method for Enabling Users to Interact in a Virtual Space" and cover architectures for for virtual worlds and MMOGs.

"Working with General Patent Corporation resulted in building strong intellectual property portfolio for Worlds.com that reflects Worlds pioneering contribution to the online game technology,"  Thom Kidrin, Worlds' CEO, said in a statement. "We are very pleased with the results so far." [Updates below]

Ganz Opposing Webcarzz Trademark Registration

Webcarzz, the car-themed world for boys, is in the process of applying for a trademark to protect its brand. In September of 2008, though, Ganz filed an opposition claiming that "The Webcarz marks [...] are a reproduction, copy, and colorful imitation of the Webkinz marks" of its own virtual world. and "likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception with respect to the origin" of services like a virtual world or toys.