Fed. Cir. Says Video Game Patent Review Not Time-Barred
Written November 25, 2019
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on November 19, 2019, affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision that determined that Game & Tech. Co.’s video game technology patent was invalid in light of prior art. Game & Tech. Co. v. Wargaming Group Ltd., Fed. Cir., No. 19-1171, 11/19/19.
The patent describes a way to automatically change the abilities of a player character’s companion in an online video game based on changes to the player character’s abilities. Wargaming filed an IPR petition in 2017, and argued it wasn’t time-barred because Game & Tech. Co’s 2015 complaint against it wasn’t properly served overseas.
GAT appealed to the Federal Circuit after the PTAB found that GAT’s service attempts were inadequate, the petition wasn’t time barred, and the patent was invalid. However, the Federal Circuit upheld the PTAB’s decision that the petition wasn’t time-barred.