A games company is accusing Zynga of infringing its patents and asking that it shut down its most popular games for the Facebook social network, including FarmVille and Mafia Wars.
Agincourt Gaming claims Zynga infringed two of its patents dating back to 1996 that relate to redeeming virtual prizes in games.
The company is seeking unspecified damages and a court order barring the conduct.
The patents cover processes for credit-based online gaming and a prize-redemption system based on the outcome of game play, according to Agincourt's complaint.
"Agincourt's patents cover the most lucrative aspects of online social gaming - including those comprising the bulk of Zynga's revenues - as they contain the crucial 'link' that allows for global, interactive prize redemption over the internet," Bill Carmody, a senior partner at Susman Godfrey, said in the statement.
Zynga, which is preparing for an initial public offering, refused to comment on the action.
The infringing Zynga games also include FishVille, CafeWorld, CityVille, Vampire Wars, PetVille, YoVille, FrontierVille, Treasure Isle, Empires and Allies and Poker, according to the complaint.
The suit is at least the second against Zynga in less than a month. New York-based Segan sued July 29th in Delaware federal court alleging patent infringement.
Founded in 2007, Zynga turned profitable last year with net income of $90.6 million. The company, which filed July 1st to raise $1 billion in an IPO, owns four of the most popular applications on Facebook.
Zynga said in July that it has more than 232 million monthly active users, making it the biggest developer of social games.
Agencies
