Game Over: Multiplayer Gaming Patent Found to be an Abstract Idea

Judge Maryellen Noreika (D. Delaware) has been very active since receiving her judicial commission less than a year ago, including already issuing a handful of Section 101 opinions. In Sandbox Software v. 18Birdies, she holds that Sandbox's patent claims are directed to the abstract idea of playing a multiplayer game and keeping track of its progress.

Sandbox attempts to save the claims, arguing that the claims are directed to "a tailored and narrowly focused method or device that requires a multistep verification process for moves relating to a game" and combines gaming with geolocation to "solve the problem of social isolationism."

The court did not buy it. Judge Noreika, citing to the patent, stated that the "only technology recited in the claims are generic mobile devices, a mobile device game application, verification and a central server," all of which are generic computer components functioning in conventional ways in their logical order. Similarly, the geolocation elements only refer to generic GPS, which is not an improvement in technology.

Judge Noreika compared Sandbox's patent to the Federal Circuit's Planet Bingo decision: "there the abstract idea of managing a bingo game was implemented on a computer that performed conventional functions just like here, where the abstract idea of playing and tracking a game is implemented on mobile devices performing conventional computer activities."

Finally, the court did not accept Sandbox's argument that disputed factual issues prohibit a Section 101 ruling at the Rule 12 stage. Instead, the court again found that there "are only well-known and conventional computer components and processes recited in the claim." In light of this, the court granted 18Birdies' motion to dismiss.

Our patent litigation team is familiar with litigating gaming and sport patents. Just last year, we defeated a patent directed to the abstract idea of refereeing a dart game on behalf of our client Arachnid 360 LLC.

Representative claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 9,737,803 is pasted below:

A method for playing a mobile computer device based game based on a plurality of game related events which relates to the observation of another player's action, comprising the steps of:

providing a first player's mobile computer device having a select mobile device game application;

providing a second player's mobile device having the select mobile computer device game application;

entering the occurrence of each game related event of a plurality of game related events at the time of occurrence of each game related event by a first player which has physically occurred at a remote location which relates to the observation of another player's action that enables the first player to advance in a mobile computer device game application into the first player's mobile computer device utilizing the mobile computer device game application;

transmitting the occurrence of each game related event of the plurality of game related events at the time of occurrence of each game related event which relates to the observation of another player's action from the first player's mobile computer device to a central server associated with the mobile computer device game application;

verifying the occurrence of each game related event of the plurality of game related events by sending a message from the central server to the second player's mobile computer device located at the remote location upon each game related event of the plurality of game related events,

transmitting a verification response from the second player's mobile computer device to the central server upon each game related event of the plurality of game related events,

changing a score associated with the first player which is stored on the central server in response to the verifying of the occurrence of each game related event.