Riot Games is battling against the 'broken' US patent system

League of Legends developer Riot Games is arguing in favor of patent reform, calling the current U.S. patent system "broken" following criticism from fans over its patenting of particular in-game camera movement in the game's spectator mode.

In a blog post on the company's official website, the developer addressed questions regarding patents it filed a few years ago, stating it has no plans to use its patents offensively, while acknowledging the over abundance of patent trolls who use the loopholes in the U.S. patent system to their advantage.

"The US patent system is broken and needs reform," reads a statement from the studio's Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill. "Many gaming companies -- including us -- are getting attacked by patent trolls. Here's some good background reading on the topic for those of you who are interested. Our default's to collaborate. For instance, we've given everyone written permission to put our IP to a wide variety of uses.

"We won't get in the way of anyone else building awesome spectator features, but we do want to make sure League of Legends players can always spectate freely."

Riot Games released a set of guidelines for those who want to bypass patent issues for the purposes of creating fan-made project, stating the League of Legends IP can be used if the project will be given away for free or simply generate ad revenue. Those hoping to have players pay for content will require written permission from the studio beforehand.

The guidelines can be read in full right here.