Activision Ordered to Pay $23.4 Million in Patent Infringement Case

A recent jury verdict has determined that Activision Blizzard must pay $23.4 million to Acceleration Bay due to patent infringement. According to Law.com, this ruling comes after an eight-year legal battle initiated by the tech incubator in 2015. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Delaware, alleged that Activision utilized patents related to networking and broadcasting in one of its multiplayer games. As a result, Activision Blizzard owes $18 million for copyright infringement related to World of Warcraft and an additional $5.4 million for two titles in the Call of Duty series. To reach a verdict, jurors were presented with two key questions, including whether Acceleration Bay had provided sufficient evidence that Activision's products infringed upon the asserted patents. Following the verdict, the jury was tasked with determining a reasonable compensation for Acceleration Bay due to Activision's infringement. Although the case against Activision Blizzard has been resolved in favor of the tech incubator, Acceleration Bay has also pursued similar patent infringement lawsuits against other major companies, including EA, Take-Two, and Amazon Web Services. In a statement responding to the ruling, Activision Blizzard expressed disappointment and intends to appeal, claiming that the patented technologies in question were never used in their games.