Interactive Entertainment

Don Karl, Co-Chair of the Interactive Entertainment group, was featured in a Q&A in a recent Media & Entertainment Law360 article. Throughout the article Don discusses his most challenging case, important issues relating to interactive entertainment law and lessons learned. To read all of his responses, visit Law360.

Seattle Licensing & Technology Partners, Dax Hansen and Kirk Soderquist were recently mentioned in the AllThingsD article, "A Sneak Peek at Zynga’s IPO: How to Turn Virtual Goods Into Real Money." The article delves into the pending IPO of Zynga, which will be the first major U.S. company supported primarily by the sale of virtual goods to do so. Because of its novelty, there are no current laws governing the method for taking into account the sale of virtual goods. For their part, Kirk and Dax look into the legal consequences of virtual goods. To read the full article, including comments from Dax, visit: http://allthingsd.com/20110624/what-zynga-will-look-like-as-a-public-company/.

Perkins Coie was ranked #4 on the Top Law Firms for Patent Quality in Information Technology and #6 on the Top 20 All Industries list put on by Intellectual Asset Management magazine in accordance with Ocean Tomo PatentRatings. Ocean Tomo is a patent ratings company that specializes in assigning value to intellectual patents.

Perkins Coie has been ranked as the number one law firm for Interactive Entertainment in a national survey by Interactive Age, the global business journal of interactive entertainment.  According to the survey there are 530 attorneys practicing law in the area of video games, new media and interactive entertainment. Rapid development of a new field in law is the direct result of explosive growth from the business behind games, and the increasing number of transactions. The numbers indicate that while solo-practitioners have been considered experts in the field for years, the big firms are beginning to stake their claims in the field and operating significant video game practices. There were a total of 30 firms ranked with Perkins Coie topping the list.

Perkins Coie Partner Dax Hansen was quoted this week in an article published by Internet Retailer, "Changing Their Stripes." The article discusses initiatives recently launched by Visa and MasterCard Worldwide in response to an increase in e-commerce and the rise of online competitors like PayPal and Facebook Credits. One example is MasterCard's Open APIs, which according to the article "is designed to make it easier for mobile and web developers to integrate MasterCard payments into their applications." The author quoted Hansen as saying this "appears aimed at developers looking for ways to sell games, music and other digital content to mobile consumers." "Developers are looking for flexible, easy solutions that don't require customers to input their card numbers," Hansen says.

As a service to its partners, clients and friends, Perkins Coie client Live Gamer invited lawyers Dax Hansen, Kirk Soderquist and Ron Koo to present a webinar last month on the legal issues impacting electronic stored value systems and related IP-ownership matters.

Federal authorities have initiated several recent enforcement actions that are indicative of continuing regulatory changes in the virtual currency industry.

Two new criminal laws underscore the value of trade secrets as a critical asset to a corporation.  These new laws, the Trade Secrets Clarification Act (TSCA) and the Foreign and Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act (FEEPEA), have increased the criminal penalties for stealing trade secrets, including fines in excess of $10 million.

To address a perceived gap in regulatory treatment of increasingly popular virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released new guidance on March 18, 2013.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently held that collecting a consumer's ZIP code at the point of sale may violate Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93, Section 105(a) (Section 105(a)), which restricts the ability of retailers to collect personal identification information (PII) from consumers in connection with a credit card transaction.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is charged with enabling and securing the Internet, has been hard at work on a significant expansion project.

As more countries join the Madrid Protocol System for the International Registration of Marks (Madrid System), trademark owners should be sure to take full advantage of this trademark registration option.  There are now 89 members of the Madrid System.  Significantly lower application and maintenance costs, as well as streamlined portfolio management options, are just a few of the reasons why the Madrid System is advantageous for trademark owners.