Atari vs. Jake from State Farm

DALLAS — Atari faces a partial setback in its Texas federal court lawsuit against State Farm over its unlicensed use of a Crystal Castles arcade cabinet, or at least its copyrighted cabinet wrap, in an ad for the insurer’s Gamerhood competition. Atari’s copyright infringement claim proceeds because the use of its art was not de minimis nor covered by the fair use doctrine; its business disparagement claim, predicated on how “Jake from State Farm” slaps the cabinet to get it to work, fails because it is unclear how Atari lost business as a result of this suggestion that its cabinets may be faulty.