Capcom wins patent infringement court battle against Koei Tecmo

Koei Tecmo Games has been ordered to pay Capcom almost $1.5 million in compensation after a court agreed that Koei Tecmo had infringed upon two of Capcom’s patent.

The ¥157 million settlement – which consists of ¥144m in damages and ¥13.1m in legal fees – follows a court case that was filed in 2014 accusing Koei Tecmo of infringing upon Patent #3350773 (Patent A) and Patent #3295771 (Patent B). Initially, the courts threw out the Patent A claim, but a ruling from the Intellectual Property High Court has reversed that decision and now recognises that Capcom’s patents were infringed upon. 

According to Capcom, Patent A “relates to methods for unlocking bonus content when the DVD-ROM of the latest title of a game series is set in a game console by placing the DVD-ROM of the previous title of the game series into the console”, while Patent B relates to “informing the player of a game of ‘information that cannot be perceived visually (such as the presence of an enemy character behind the player)’ by vibrating the controller when it is judged that the situation in the game meets certain conditions”. 

In a press release, Capcom said this latest ruling “demonstrates sound legal judgement”.

“Capcom is committed to improving customer experiences and expanding the game industry by promoting the effective use of its patents through methods such as licensing, while safeguarding the inventions associated with each of its titles,” Capcom said via press release, (thanks, GI.biz).