Jagex wins patent infringement case in US
But Runescape developer pays seven-figure sum in costs
Jagex, the Cambridge company behind Runescape, has paid out a seven figure sum in court costs after winning a patent infringement case in the US.
The company was one of a number of high-profile targets which were sued by PalTalk, which alleged that certain patents pertaining to server group messaging had been used by Jagex, Activision Blizzard, Sony, Turbine and NCSoft.
"It is exceedingly unfortunate that the US legal system can force a company with a sole presence in Cambridge, UK to incur a seven digit expense and waste over a year of management time on a case with absolutely no merit," said Jagex's CEO, Mark Gerhard.
"This anomaly, which could easily break smaller studios, doesn't happen in the UK since you can pursue frivolous litigants for the costs of such claims. We are particularly disappointed that PalTalk did not, at any stage prior to filing the lawsuit, seek to contact us to clarify that Jagex's game platform did not infringe PalTalk's patents."
PalTalk raised the suits after Microsoft agreed to settle for an undisclosed amount out of court for the same charges earlier in the year. PalTalk accused Jagex of costing it "damages in excess of tens of millions of dollars" due to the infringements. The exact costs to Jagex of winning the case are unknown.
"Thankfully, the team can continue to focus all our attention on our passion for game development, however, we will not hesitate to vigorously defend our position against any patent trolls who bring lawsuits against us in the future," Gerhard concluded.