IP Grenades Flying in Video Game Fight
Attorneys for the makers of "Rules of Survival" say the copyright suit filed against them is based in part on publicly available stock art.
November 02, 2018 at 03:46 PM
3 minute read
An IP battle between two video game makers is growing more hostile as U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California mulls a motion to dismiss the case.
NetEase, the maker of “Rules of Survival,” asked White to postpone ruling Tuesday while it prepares a Rule 11 motion for sanctions against PUBG Corp, maker of “PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.”
NetEase's Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan counsel said it had discovered that some game elements PUBG considers uniquely creative are actually clip art marketed by third parties. And PUBG's claim that NetEase ripped off its catch phrase “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” is a “false allegation,” according to the motion, which is signed by Quinn Emanuel partner Claude Stern.
PUBG v. NetEase is being closely watched in the video game industry. It's a rare showdown between makers of two blockbuster games, and has the potential to shape copyright law for a lucrative young industry.
|
➤➤ Get IP news and commentary straight to your inbox with Scott Graham's Skilled in the Art. Sign up here.
PUBG sued NetEase in April, accusing it of copying numerous aspects of “Battlegrounds,” including the virtual weaponry players use to mow each other down. “The visual appearances of the weapons are realistic, but each weapon has been stylized to make it distinct from actual real life weapons,” PUBG states in its complaint.
NetEase's Tuesday filing highlights several weapons and consumables pictured in PUBG's complaint that appear to be identical—sometimes down to the serial number—of stock art that's publicly available on the Unreal Engine Marketplace. “PUBG cannot allege a copyright claim based on art it neither owns nor has an exclusive license to,” Stern writes.
Stern acknowledged that it was too soon for NetEase to bring an actual Rule 11 motion alleging the failure to perform an adequate investigation. Parties must give their opponents 21 days to cure the problems, and that period had not run as of Tuesday, Stern wrote. But a Rule 11 motion will be brought “promptly” if PUBG doesn't amend its complaint and identify all materials that came from third parties, he warned.
PUBG has not formally responded. But in email correspondence attached to the NetEase motion, Sidley Austin partner Rollin Ransom tells the Quinn attorneys there's no basis for Rule 11. He describes NetEase's filing as an improper end-around Rule 11, which precludes such motions from being “filed or presented to the court” until the 21 days have run.
“If you are sincerely interested in conferring respecting NetEase's claimed concerns, please advise as to the specific amendments you believe are necessary, so that the parties can have a meaningful discussion,” Ransom wrote.
On Wednesday, White issued a brief order neither granting nor denying the stay, but instead ordering the parties to meet and confer face-to-face or by telephone, not over email.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllIn Lawsuit, Ex-Google Employee Says Company’s Layoffs Targeted Parents and Others on Leave
6 minute readMorrison & Foerster Doles Out Year-End and Special Bonuses, Raises Base Compensation for Associates
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250