Capcom Wins Long-Running Patent Suit Against Koei Tecmo

On September 11, 2019, Japanese game developer Capcom announced that Japan’s Intellectual Property High Court ruled in favor of the developer in their patent infringement lawsuit against Koei Tecmo Co. Ltd. This was the second time Capcom raised this suit against Koei.

The High Court has ordered Koei Tecmo to pay nearly $1.5 million based on its finding that Koei infringed two of Capcom’s patents.

The two patents at issue in the suit were Japanese Patent Nos. 3,350,773 and 3,295,771. These two patents relate specifically to importing and unlocking content from an older title in a new game, as well as a controller vibration technique utilized to alert players of nearby enemies.

Originally filed in 2014, Capcom argued Koei Tecmo infringed both patents, but the judge at the time only found infringement of claims of the ’771 patent and awarded $50,000 in damages. In contrast with that relatively limited finding, the current ruling found infringement of both patents and has increased the damage award significantly.

The patents related to the video games “Samurai Warriors” and the “Dynasty Warriors” game series.

We will provide updates if any new or noteworthy info follows the resolution of this case.