Skillz, AviaGames to settle patent lawsuit over 'copycat' mobile games

Firy

09/04/2024 17:13

* 
      Skillz won $42.9 million verdict against AviaGames in
February
    

        * 
      AviaGames facing separate allegations of using 'bots' to
rig
cash games
    

  
    By Blake Brittain
       April 9 (Reuters) - Mobile-gaming platform Skillz
 SKLZ.N  is settling a patent lawsuit against rival AviaGames
over its alleged "copycat" versions of Skillz's mobile games,
the companies told a California federal court on Monday. 
    Skillz and AviaGames said in a court filing on Monday that
they "believe they are in agreement upon all final settlement
terms" and intend to finalize the agreement on Tuesday. A jury
awarded Skillz nearly $42.9 million in damages in February after
finding that AviaGames infringed one of its patents. 
    Details of the settlement were not disclosed, and
representatives for the companies did not immediately respond on
Tuesday to requests for comment. Skillz and another
mobile-gaming company, Big Run Studios, have also sued AviaGames
for copyright infringement in a still-pending case in Northern
California.
    Las Vegas-based Skillz's platform enables multiplayer
competitions in mobile gaming. It sued AviaGames for patent
infringement in 2021, alleging that AviaGames' Pocket7Games app
copied its platform and featured "knockoff" versions of its
games.
    The lawsuit said that AviaGames stole its technology after
launching a failed game on Skillz's platform in 2016. AviaGames
denied the allegations and told a jury in February that Skillz,
"a direct competitor, doesn't like our success."
    The jury later determined that AviaGames willfully infringed
a Skillz patent, leading to the $42.9 million verdict and the
possibility of a judge multiplying the award.
    Skillz told the court last year that it had separately
uncovered evidence that AviaGames used bots to "rig" its cash
games. AviaGames, which has denied the claims, later received a
grand-jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's office in New
Jersey over the allegations and is facing a related class-action
lawsuit in California.
    
    The case is Skillz Platform Inc v. AviaGames Inc, U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of California, No.
5:21-cv-02436.
    For Skillz: Lazar Raynal and Jennifer Stewart of King &
Spalding
    For AviaGames: Jerry Riedinger and Wendy Wang of Perkins
Coie; Ajay Krishnan, Elliot Peters and Leo Lam of Keker Van Nest
& Peters
    
    Read more:
    Mobile gaming company Skillz wins $43 million patent verdict
against AviaGames
    US judge delays mobile gambling patent trial for criminal
investigation

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)