IBM has convinced a federal jury in Delaware that mobile-game maker Zynga owes $44.9 million in damages for violating IBM's patent rights in what the tech giant called "foundational" internet technology.

The internet is so core to how modern life operates that it's easy to forget how much of the technology that went into building the world wide web has patent protections. And some of those patents are still being enforced today.

Zynga must pay IBM nearly $45 million in damages after a jury ruled that popular games in its FarmVille series, as well as individual hits like Harry Potter: Puzzles and Spells, infringed on two early IBM patents.

Big Blue’s Prodigy from the 1980s comes back to haunt FarmVille giant IBM's patent farm has yielded another bumper crop, with a Delaware jury awarding Big Blue $45 million in damages from mobile games maker Zynga.