Sawyer v Atari Interactive Inc, Court of Appeal - Chancery Division, November 01, 2005, [2006] ILPr 8,(2006) 29(2) IPD 29012,[2005] EWHC 2351 (Ch)
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Sawyer v Atari Interactive Inc, Court of Appeal - Chancery Division, November 01, 2005, [2006] ILPr 8,(2006) 29(2) IPD 29012,[2005] EWHC 2351 (Ch)
Neutral Citation No: [2005] EWHC 2351 (Ch)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICECHANCERY DIVISIONCase No: HC 05 C 01176 (IHC 326/05)Royal Courts of JusticeStrandLondon WC2A 2LLTuesday, November 1, 2005BeforeMR JUSTICE LAWRENCE COLLINSBetween- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Mr Andrew Hunter (instructed by Eversheds LLP) for the ClaimantMr Paul Lowenstein (instructed by Harbottle & Lewis) for the DefendantHearing: October 20, 2005- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -JUDGMENTMr Justice Lawrence Collins:I Introduction1. Mr Sawyer, the Claimant, is a very successful designer and developer of computer games, in which he owns the copyright, among them Transport Tycoon, RollerCoaster Tycoon (and its add-ons), and RollerCoaster Tycoon II. His business is based in Scotland. He operates through an agent in England (Marjacq Micro Ltd).2. The Defendant, Atari Interactive Inc, is a computer games distributor, and has licences to market the games. It is incorporated in Delaware and until earlier this year operated a studio in Beverly, Massachusetts, where new games were developed. It is a subsidiary of Atari Inc, which is based in New York. Both the Defendant and Atari Inc are subsidiaries of a French company, Infogrames Entertainment SA. In about 2001 Infogrames Entertainment SA acquired the Defendant (then called Hasbro Interactive Inc) from the well known games manufacturers, the Hasbro Group, and re-named it Infogrames Interactive Inc, and later, in about 2003, Atari Interactive Inc.3. Atari Inc provides, in New York, administrative services to the Defendant, including the retention of accounting data and its royalty accounting function. The Defendant has associated companies around the world, but the evidence is that they remit accounting paperwork to Atari Inc in New York, where the worldwide royalty accounting takes place. While the business was in the Hasbro Group, accounting was done from Hasbro offices in Rhode Island.4. There are five relevant licence agreements, to which I shall refer collectively as ``the Agreements.'' Mr Sawyer originally licensed Transport Tycoon to an English company, MicroProse Ltd, by an Agreement dated June 15, 1994 (``the 1994 Agreement''). It seems that Hasbro acquired MicroProse Ltd in 1998 or 1999, and it is common ground that the Defendant has become the licensee under the 1994 Agreement by novation.5. RollerCoaster Tycoon and two add-ons (Corkscrew Follies, and Loopy Landscapes) were licensed to the Defendant, then known as Hasbro Interactive Inc, by Agreements dated December 14, 1998 (``the 1998 Agreement''), October 25, 1999 (``the 1999 Agreement'') and June 1, 2000 (``the 2000 Agreement'') and RollerCoaster Tycoon II was licensed to the Defendant when it was known as Infogrames Interactive Inc by an Agreement dated May 17, 2002 (``the 2002 Agreement''). 6. The 1994 Agreement provides for English law and English arbitration. The other four Agreements provide for E...See the full content of this document
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