Ubisoft emerges unscathed by DRM patent infringement lawsuit
A United States District Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Ubisoft which claims that the publisher violated patents held by Digital Reg of Texas in the design of its infamous uPlay DRM software.
Initially filed in 2012, the lawsuit alleges that Ubisoft (alongside other companies such as EA, Valve and Flash creator Adobe) violated six patents held by Digital Reg relating to remotely tracking access to software after distribution and post-distribution security, among other typical functions of digital rights management software. Judge Claudia Wilken dismissed the case against Ubisoft for "numerous reasons," among them an agreement between Digital Reg and Valve covering third-party use of the DRM patents in question. According to Wilken, Ubisoft's alleged infringement was nullified under the terms of that accord.
Despite this victory, uPlay remains a controversial component of Ubisoft games. As recently as two months ago, the uPlay system was preventing legitimate owners of the PC version of Watch Dogs from playing the open-world hacking adventure.
[Image: Ubisoft]
