King & Spalding Secures Victory for Skillz in California Patent Infringement Suit

King & Spalding secured a $42.9m jury verdict in federal court for Skillz Platform Inc. in a California patent infringement suit. On February 9, 2024, a unanimous jury found AviaGames’ Pocket7Games app infringes multiple claims of Skillz’s gaming patent. Skillz sued AviaGames in 2021 after discovering it had copied Skillz’s patented technology that ensures mobile games (e-sports) run on separate devices are fair. In August 2023, with summary judgment fully briefed, Skillz moved for sanctions and to reopen discovery after learning AviaGames pits human players against “bots.” Armed with supplemental testimony and documents uncovered through the re-opened discovery, Skillz demonstrated at trial how AviaGames infringes Skillz’s patent when AviaGames uses bots in cash games. Because the jury found AviaGames’ infringement was willful, the Court has discretion to increase the damages award up to three times the amount of the verdict.