Judge dismisses patent infringement claim against Ubisoft and Uplay

United States District Judge Claudia Wilken dismissed patent infringement claims leveled against Ubisoft's Uplay platform, according to a document filed last month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Digital Reg of Texas LLC's suit alleged that Ubisoft, Flash creator Adobe Systems and Norton Antivirus creator Symantec Corporation violated aspects of six patents that cover "regulating" access to, "tracking" access after distribution, "delivering" and "securing" or encrypting content covered by digital rights management (DRM) technology that restricts access to copyrighted material. Ubisoft was accused of violating the tracking and delivering aspects of the patents.

The developer of Assassin's Creed games, Watch Dogs and more asked for and received summary judgement of non-infringement for "several reasons," each covering the individual patents, according to the filed document. For example, Valve, which owns and operates the Steam digital distribution platform, was previously named in the suit but licensed the patents for use on Steam. The Court held that Ubisoft is "immune from an infringement suit" because its use of a third-party platform to perform a patented action is covered by Valve's previous Settlement Agreement.

Check out Polygon's E3 2014 interview with Assassin's Creed Unity's developers for more on the next installment in the franchise.