Paqits, LLC v. Activision Blizzard, Inc.

United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas

Case No. 2:2012cv00013, Filed on January 11, 2012

Activision has been slapped with a patent infringement suit for the operation of the Battle.net website.  This website serves as Activision's gaming portal where users can purchase games and join Activision's social community.  This service also allows users to access popular games such as "World of Warcraft," "Starcraft II," and the recently released "Diablo III."  In January of 2012, Paquits LLC alleged that Blizzard had infringed upon its patent titled "System using access information set by a user to allow another user to access updated portion of contact and personal information of the user."  In its complaint, Paquits claims that the "Real ID" feature of Battle.net infringes upon its patent because it "[controls] a second user’s access to a first user's information over a communications network."  According to the website, the Real ID feature of Battle.net allows users to interact with friends by communicating across Activision games, by sending broadcast messages, and by allowing users to see status information about their friends.  In its complaint, Paqits also alleged that Activision contributed to infringement of its patent because it should have known that battle.net would have "induce[d] infringement by its customers."  

This case was later settled on May 7, 2012, resulting in a dismissal of all claims with prejudice.