Atari, Inc. v. North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corp.

1 Analyses of this case by attorneys

  1. Electronic Arts v. Zynga: Real Dispute Over Virtual Worlds

    Fenwick & West LLPOctober 5, 2012

    This is consistent with prior decisions involving arcade or console-based games, wherein games that are fanciful (such as Pac-Man) generally have received greater protection against infringers than games based on sports or other real life activities (such as golf or martial arts), because such games do not consist almost entirely of unprotectable elements like common sports moves, stereotypical characters, and scoring systems. Compare Midway v. Bandai, 546 F. Supp. 125 (D.N.J. 1982) and Atari Inc. v. North American, 672 F. 2d 607 (7th Cir. 1982), cert denied, 459 U.S. 880 (1982); withIncredible Techs. Inc. v. Virtual Techs.