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Zynga Is Being Sued For Patent Infringement

News

by Kyle Hilliard on February 14, 2012 at 09:53 AM

7,575 Views

Zynga is being sued, but not for the reasons you may have assumed.

Zynga has been accused in the past of liberally borrowing ideas from other developers, but this lawsuit is over the use of patents, and deal with the inner workings and behind the scenes programming of Zynga's games.

Personalized Media Communications (PMC) is suing the mobile game developer for infringing on four of its patents. The patents in question cover, "the use of control and information signals embedded in electronic media content to generate output for display that is personalized and relevant to a user." These patents also include items like controlling access to specific content, personalizing content based on player attributes, managing downloads and networks, targeting advertising, and the purchasing of media among other products.

No reaction from Zynga on the lawsuit yet, but PMC's founder John C. Harvey said, "Many years of time and labor went into developing our inventions and securing the patents that permit their practice. It wouldn’t be right to sit by and allow them to be infringed."

[via Gamasutra]

Email the author Kyle Hilliard, or follow on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and Game Informer.

Filed under: News, lawsuit, patent, zynga, pmc, personalized media communications

Comments

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by The Doctor Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:04 AM

Good. Someone needed to take them to court over something. I'm sure they did it, anyway. Zynga hasn't had an original product or idea since they were founded.
by Zero Gravity Ewok Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:07 AM

I saw my classmate play Zynga Poker on his Iphone, and poker's an original idea? Poker? Really Zynga? Maybe they should turn their creativity box on, sheesh.
by GoldvsSilver Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:08 AM

Oh, dang. Well, I guess it's a always a good thing when a shady company gets exposed for what it's doing
by Ciyrus Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:10 AM

zynga being sued?! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V51aTh2c0Q
by VinsanityV22 Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:20 AM

"the use of control and information signals embedded in electronic media content to generate output for display that is personalized and relevant to a user." Correct me if I'm wrong, but....are they trying to say they invented the technology that makes HUDs in video games possible? I'm all for taking it to Zynga guys, but c'mon!
by MexicanDodgersFan Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:20 AM

I feel like I should sue Zynga for every dam Farmville invite. A penny for every invite and I could probably buy everyone on GI a new console.
by wickemic Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:22 AM

And this is why patents are given.
by LunarStarFox Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Go them! It was going to happen eventually...hope they whip Zynga good and teach them that bad business catches up. :)
by the great gonzo Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 11:07 AM

what games do they make?
by ZTribal Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 11:07 AM

These guys are just sitting on generic patents, as much as I dislike Zynga, PMC is worse.
by Meta77 Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 11:13 AM

Lets all sue the world together
by Orochi Assassin LEVON Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 11:43 AM

It's about time this happened. I'm sick of all those invites I get from friends I added.
by MONSTER TEETH Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 12:00 PM

I don't dispute that Zynga is a crap company that probably shouldn't exist, but for personalized content? Oh lord.

Help, my planet has been brainwashed by lawyers!

Next on the agenda, suing everyone that has ever used HTML.
by Warrior Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 12:10 PM

Sorry Zynga. That really suckx. If it helps, you do have a cool dog logo.
by mesk Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 01:06 PM

The "games" this company makes are so horrible.
by BATTLESUIT Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 01:41 PM

Good for Zynga. I hope somebody eventually finds a way to put them out of business.
by Joseph Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 01:55 PM

Sounds kinda flimsy to me.
by luciablee Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 02:18 PM

It's about time. Although I still think they should have been sued over the past allegations of copying.
by The Second Musketeer Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 02:22 PM

Well, its about time!
by Fulgrim Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 03:01 PM

About time they get sued.