After a four-day jury trial, Hueston Hennigan's Rob Klieger and Rajan Trehan won a unanimous defense verdict on behalf of video game publisher Electronic Arts in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The plaintiff, Direct Technologies, claimed that it was a joint author of a USB flash drive in the shape of the “PlumBob,” an iconic green jewel associated with The Sims video game franchise. Direct Technologies sought to recover a share of Electronic Arts’ profits from the Collector’s Edition of The Sims 3, with which the USB flash drive was distributed. After deliberating for just over an hour, the jury rejected Direct Technologies’ claimed copyright interest and awarded it no damages.
The Court had earlier granted Electronic Arts’ motion for summary judgment on a trade secret misappropriation claim that was also asserted by Direct Technologies. That ruling was affirmed last fall on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
Electronic Arts was represented by Robert Klieger and Rajan Trehan.