M·CAM, Inc. releases Patently Obvious™ on Walker Digital’s U.S. Patent No. 6,425,828

Date:  Thu, 2011-01-27

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – January 27, 2011 – M·CAM, Inc. released its Patently Obvious™ report today on the patent holdings of Walker Digital highlighted in Walker Digital LLC v. Activision Inc. et. al.

On January 3, 2011, Walker Digital, an IP focused company well known for cases against Microsoft and Facebook, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Zynga, Activision and the latter’s subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment. The asserted patent, U.S 6,425,828 (hereafter ”˜828), claims a method for conducting a networked electronic tournament for a plurality of players and storing player information for use in subsequent sessions. Zynga (FarmVille), Activision (Call of Duty and Guitar Hero) and Blizzard (World of Warcraft) are giants in the online gaming industry. Though many of the games developed by these companies offer or require unique player accounts, they do not seem to fall under the standard definition of a tournament.

Using the M·CAM DOORS™ analytic platform, an intellectual property analysis of the ”˜828 patent was conducted in order to understand its strength and defensibility in the face of prior and concurrent art innovation. The innovation space surrounding the ”˜828 patent and its patent family members was examined to determine which patent or patents may provide alternatives to or alter the value of Walker Digital’s holdings.

The question stands: are Walker Digital’s infringement claims against these gaming companies valid, or will potential weaknesses in its asserted patent backfire and injure Walker Digital’s portfolio?

M·CAM’s Patently Obvious™ is a weekly report providing visibility into potentially unconsidered alternatives, including art in the public domain, to patent holdings across a variety of technology areas.

M·CAM, Inc. is a global, full-service intellectual property and rights (IP&R) and intangible asset financial services firm. We provide the technical and financial systems that allow public and private markets to use IP&R and IA for regulated transactions in banking, securities, insurance, and public innovation investment and technology procurement. From our pioneering work in creating the world’s first standards-based innovation collateralization financial products for banking and securities to our work in grassroots innovator enablement and patent quality assurance programs, M·CAM provides the mechanism to balance the interests of public and commercial sectors to support and build thriving economies.

The M·CAM Patently Obvious™ report on the Walker Digital patent can be found HERE.