Month: May 2025
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1,220 days later, the Federal Trade Commission blessed Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard King: administrative complaint withdrawn
Context: On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced an agreement to acquire Activision Blizzard, also referred to as Activision Blizzard King (ABK; King being the Candy Crush maker). The regulators in many jurisdictions cleared the deal either on the fast track or after an in-depth investigation. In the special case of the UK Competition & Markets…
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Discord’s streaming under patent attack in Europe while Epic fends off another patent holder’s U.S. lawsuit over Travis Scott, Ariana Grande concerts
Context: While patent disputes between game makers such as Nintendo’s litigation against Pocketpair over Palworld (May 11, 2025 games fray article) are few and far between, the $200B video game industry is a frequent target of patent assertions by smaller patent holders, often (but not always) non-practicing entities (NPEs). What’s new: We have discovered a…
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Pocketpair already demoed gliding Pals in June 2021 — six months prior to Nintendo’s original patent application on switching riding objects!
In order to give Nintendo no chance to sue over a forthcoming U.S: patent, Pocketpair removed a feature from Palworld that it had already demoed in 2021.
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Pocketpair presents moving-target challenge to Nintendo’s patent assertions, which annoy gamers but may ultimately make zero impact
Nintendo’s patent assertions against Palworld have led to further changes to gameplay in an effort by Pocketpair to eliminate any litigation risks.
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U.S. appeals court finally decides Microsoft legitimately acquired Activision Blizzard: FTC loses by ultrawide margin
The Federal Trade Commission unsucessfully appealed a district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction against Microsoft’s 2023 acquisition of Activision Blizzard King.