Skillz, AviaGames to settle patent lawsuit over 'copycat' mobile games

April 9 (Reuters) - Mobile-gaming platform Skillz (SKLZ.N) is settling a patent lawsuit against rival AviaGames over its alleged "copycat" versions of Skillz's mobile games, the companies told a California federal court on Monday.

Skillz and AviaGames said in a court filing on Monday that they "believe they are in agreement upon all final settlement terms" and intend to finalize the agreement on Tuesday. A jury awarded Skillz nearly $42.9 million in damages in February after finding that AviaGames infringed one of its patents.

Details of the settlement were not disclosed, and representatives for the companies did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment. Skillz and another mobile-gaming company, Big Run Studios, have also sued AviaGames for copyright infringement in a still-pending case in Northern California.

Las Vegas-based Skillz's platform enables multiplayer competitions in mobile gaming. It sued AviaGames for patent infringement in 2021, alleging that AviaGames' Pocket7Games app copied its platform and featured "knockoff" versions of its games.

The lawsuit said that AviaGames stole its technology after launching a failed game on Skillz's platform in 2016. AviaGames denied the allegations and told a jury in February that Skillz, "a direct competitor, doesn't like our success."

The jury later determined that AviaGames willfully infringed a Skillz patent, leading to the $42.9 million verdict and the possibility of a judge multiplying the award.

Skillz told the court last year that it had separately uncovered evidence that AviaGames used bots to "rig" its cash games. AviaGames, which has denied the claims, later received a grand-jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's office in New Jersey over the allegations and is facing a related class-action lawsuit in California.

The case is Skillz Platform Inc v. AviaGames Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:21-cv-02436.