Social Media & Games Law Blog

Social media tools can be used to shed light on your target market and consumer decision making process. These tools can also be used to engage in a two-way conversation with your consumers and allows customers to communicate your messaging on your behalf. Restaurants are ahead of the curve:  81% are currently using social media, compared with 60% in other industries. Companies in these industries cannot ignore the powerful impact of social media. Companies in this space also face a host of new legal risks and concerns from virtually all sides. The key to success is staying on top of these laws and emerging trends.

On March 22, 2011, Jim Gatto delivered an exciting webinar presentation on top social media legal issues targeted to the restaurant, food and beverage industries. For a copy of his presentation, please click RFB Legal Briefing Series.pdf.

In October, tech media sources, such as CNET, were reporting that Facebook had acquired part of Zenbe's intellectual property portfolio, in addition to hiring some of Zenbe's key engineers. While Zenbe will stay intact, Zenbe Mail has been shut down, and the associated intellectual property, has been acquired by Facebook.  

Zenbe is just one in a long list of recent acquisitions by the social networking giant that have focused primarily on the value of intellectual property assets. Some of those acquisitions include: Divvyshot, Hot Potato, NextStop, Drop.io and FriendFeed. This underscores to critical importance of a sound intellectual property strategy that helps protect your product development and is aligned with your overall business goals.

A method, comprising:receiving, at a server, a purchase order for virtual currency from a player, wherein the purchase order was made with legal currency, and wherein the virtual currency is usable within the context of a computer-implemented game;crediting an account of the player with virtual currency, wherein the virtual currency is not redeemable for legal currency;receiving a second purchase order for a virtual object within the context of the computer-implemented game from the player, wherein the second purchase order was made with virtual currency; and debiting the account of the player based on the second purchase order.

• MANY ASPECTS OF SOCIAL GAMES ARE POTENTIALLY PATENTABLE
  
• ZYNGA (AND OTHERS) ARE PURSUING MORE PATENTS IN THIS SPACE
• IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT THERE IS A LOT OF "BORROWING" OF IDEAS FROM COMPETITORS IN THE SOCIAL GAME SPACE
• THIS HAS BEEN FACILITATED BY LACK OF ATTENTION TO IP PROTECTION
  
• IT IS CRITICAL FOR ANYONE OPERATING IN THE SOCIAL GAMING SPACE TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE IP PROTECTION STRATEGY,  INCLUDING PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS

Target's recent launch of a program to sell gift cards redeemable for Facebook Credits or in the virtual world Poptropica towards either membership fees or the purchase of virtual currency further blurs the line (to the extent there still was one) between in-world currency and real-world currency. Facebook and Zynga agreed earlier this year that players of Zynga games (such as Farmville) can use Facebook Credits to buy virtual goods, but there is no reason why real-world retailers looking to attract Facebook users and create online buzz couldn't set up exclusive deals for Facebook Credits. Steve Richards has an interesting post at ecoconsultancy.com on just that topic - he even questions how long it will be before sites that enable you to buy, sell and trade virtual currencies become regulated exchanges.

As the line between virtual and real-world currencies disappears, there are a host of legal issues that virtual world operators will need to deal with. As we noted in this post, because of laws like the CARD Act and various state, local and even international laws and regulations related to the use of stored value cards and accounts, it is important to ensure that if you are offering virtual currency as part of your business model, you verify that you are in compliance with federal, state and international laws.

We are proud to welcome two high profile lateral hires to our rapidly growing Virtual Worlds and Video Game team. On July 1, Sean Kane joined our New York Office. This follows on the heels of Mark Litvack joining our LA office in June of this year.

Sean has a broad range of IP experience advising on copyrights, trademarks, digital rights, trade dress, trade secrets, unfair competition and publicity/privacy rights. He joins from Kane & Associates LLC, where he provided comprehensive legal and business solutions for start-up ventures, mid-cap companies, multinationals and individuals involved in various interactive entertainment and IP-related enterprises. Sean has also been active in various industry and legal organizations. For example, he is a member of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law (Co-Chair of the Computer Games and Virtual Worlds Committee), a member of the Section of Science & Technology Law (Co-Chair of the Virtual Worlds and Multiuser Online Games Committee), a member of the Board of Editors of the LJN publication, Internet Law & Strategy and frequently writes and lectures on these subjects.

Mark has extensive experience in a wide range of IP litigation matters, including copyright and trademark infringement, Internet piracy and prosecution, and entertainment law and previously served as Vice President at the Motion Picture Association of America, where he focused on Internet piracy issues. He also advises video games and virtual world companies.