After two years of court proceedings, a Delaware judge has ruled that Zynga must pay IBM $44.9 million in an infringement lawsuit.
The US mobile games developer was accused of infringing two now-expired patents with ten of its games.
The listing includes four games from the Farmville franchise, which enjoyed a comeback in recent years and reportedly had 28 million daily players and 75 million monthly in its heyday.
Patents Now Expired but Valid
Zynga has been ordered by the judge to pay the damages for violating IBM’s patent rights. They relate to foundational technologies for data processing and optimizing advertising.
The game-maker argued that the patents were invalid, but the judge ruled that it did not have “clear and convincing evidence” for this. A Zynga spokesperson told Reuters that it will appeal the decision and believes it will win.
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IBM’s Litigious History
In June, IBM settled a patent infringement lawsuit against the Japanese e-commerce website Rakuten, which was also set to be heard in a courtroom in Delaware. An agreement was reached before the trial was due to start.
Just months before, in March, a fight over advertising technology between the computing giant and pet-food seller Chewy was also settled. Chewy said that IBM had sought “exorbitant licensing fees for early Internet patents having no value.”
What’s Next for Zynga?
Zynga is owned by Take-Two Interactive, which also owns 2K and Rockstar Games. Its recent launches include Game of Thrones: Legends, which opened for pre-registration in June.
Its parent company has been pumping money into raising the wider company’s development staff headcount with a focus on mobile gaming now that the Zynga team has joined.
An investor presentation from August suggests growth is steady and Forbes says Take-Two Interactive is a better pick for investors than rival, EA Games.
