Activision Blizzard Sued For Virtual World Infringement

[elbert]

[citation][nom]Marcus52[/nom]NCSoft has been around for 15 years.[/citation]
Warcraft launched November 1994 so its been around 18 plus years. Diablo is a bit newer launching December 31, 1996 so its 16 plus years ago. Blizzard its self was founded 1991 as Silicon & Synapse so 21 plus years old.

 

[elbert]

[citation][nom]Kami3k[/nom]Um no, WoW is based off EverQuest. Stop being clueless about MMO history.[/citation]
Please think about what MMO's were based on. Adding more players, larger maps, and more items has always been moving along. The bases for the MMO started way back in the late 80's when Id made the first game an avatar could walk around in and aim at other avatars. I wouldn't be small minded in think this was even the begin of current gaming but its sure rooted back to at least doom. Possible even some older 2D games saved items in a database. Games like wagon train saved things to databases some 30 years ago. Think these may have been quests in the form of questions. Even older word based games like the one depicted on big bang theory where Sheldon has to pick up the sword and go directions.

 

[Hypertraxx]

This is bullshit... The whole patent system sucks ass.

 

[LORD_ORION]

Apparently the proper strategy to defend against this crap devolves to two options.

1) Counter sue for patent infringement, regardless of how ridiculous, because it costs big bucks to defend an infringement suit.
2) Reach a settlement that will ultimately cost you less then defending the suit.

Since patent trolls make sure option 1 can't be realized before they launch their attack, it really is looking like option 2 is your best bet.

There are 2 shining examples of option 2 fail.
-MS's defense of of Word XML which cost them 250 million+
-RIMs ultimate loss to NTP that cost 612 million+ and will be ultimately be responsible for destroying the company (this downward spiral is in progress)

 

[QEFX]

I remember interacting with people back in the BBS days (300 baud modem days) in a "virtual" space ... and later the pre-AOL / Compuserve. I wonder is this counts as "system and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space"?

We need to get the best and brightest out of the universities & fortune 500 companies (thought you'd like the joke) and get them into the patent systems. I bet we could get rid of 90% of the patents within a year ... just from eliminating crap like this.

 

[LORD_ORION]

[citation][nom]elbert[/nom]Please think about what MMO's were based on. Adding more players, larger maps, and more items has always been moving along. The bases for the MMO started way back in the late 80's when Id made the first game an avatar could walk around in and aim at other avatars. I wouldn't be small minded in think this was even the begin of current gaming but its sure rooted back to at least doom. Possible even some older 2D games saved items in a database. Games like wagon train saved things to databases some 30 years ago. Think these may have been quests in the form of questions. Even older word based games like the one depicted on big bang theory where Sheldon has to pick up the sword and go directions.[/citation]

I would argue that interacting in a virtual world is an obvious patent.

The reason; before this technology was implemented in game, users would need to use 3rd party utilities to meet this requirement. This is an example of obvious evolution, and should not be patentable because nobody was smart enough to implement it before the users made a work around to overcome the limitation.

Having said that, is a company willing to spend millions in defense to gamble that they end up with some schmuck of a clueless/arrogant judge who costs them their company?

Probably not.

Once again I am reminded of Penny Arcade's problem in this arena, to showcase just how stupidly idiotic the patent system is, and how it makes the world a worse place, not a better place.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1704/the_trouble_with_patents.php
and
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2012/02/22

 

[elbert]

[quotemsg=9359675,60,56611]I would argue that interacting in a virtual world is an obvious patent.

The reason; before this technology was implemented in game, users would need to use 3rd party utilities to meet this requirement. This is an example of obvious evolution, and should not be patentable because nobody was smart enough to implement it before the users made a work around to overcome the limitation.

Having said that, is a company willing to spend millions in defense to gamble that they end up with some schmuck of a clueless/arrogant judge who costs them their company?

Probably not.

Once again I am reminded of Penny Arcade's problem in this arena, to showcase just how stupidly idiotic the patent system is, and how it makes the world a worse place, not a better place.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1704/the_trouble_with_patents.php
and
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2012/02/22[/quotemsg]
I agree it shouldn't be patented and that only the code its self be patentable. In this case even arcade game makers may have more of a right. I remember tron was a virtual world envisioned back in the 70's. How can anyone can get a patient on this in the last 20 years is amazing. Its almost like trying to patient the wheel.

Do not forget this is a gamble on both sides. Worlds Inc doesn't have the cash to hold out for a lengthy court case. If blizzard/Activision wants to fight then Worlds Inc may never see the end of the case. Also 1 judge will never be the end of a company with even a small amount of cash. You could see as many as 30 court rulings on this before its reaches the highest courts. Depending on how the first few goes may either cause Worlds Inc to drop it or Blizzard give into a settlement.

 

[ruszip1]

I wonder if i can patent the "Penis" and sue every other man out there for using it? lol, just kidding, but seriously, i wonder how much longer this whole patent suits thing is going to go on? It is kind of sad, anything in the games are generally ment to mimic real life? its not like they came up with the idea of trying on new cloths or walking up to an object (think of anything you have ever used, can ever use or will ever use) and touching it or using it in anyway shape or form. kinda of like anything apple or microsoft wants to sue for. like the whole highlighting text, i don't think a single collage grad that has went to collage in the last 50 years could have gotten by without a highlighter marker. or think of any of the thousands of suits going on. with the exception of the whole left/right click on it" thing almost anything you do on a computer is just an extension of something you could do not using a computer. its not like copying something is new, people hand copied books 500 plus years ago before printing presses. paste isn't a new term, sliding something, i think its all just ridiculous.

 

[omega21xx]

Not sure to the specifics of this patent, but it must be as general as this article makes it out to be. WOW (Blizzard) and Aion (NCsoft) use completely different tactics for connecting people to their avatar and their avatar to others.

 

[capt_taco]

If it's cheaper to settle out of court than to fight a lawsuit ... I would think it would be cheaper still to hire a private investigator to dig up whatever dirt he could on the CEO of the patent-trolling company and any attorneys involved in the case. Ruin their marriages, get them hauled in front of a judge for tax problems, get the lawyers disbarred, whatever you can to mess up their lives and waste their time. If that became standard practice, maybe these scum would think twice before playing the legal system like the lottery.

 

[new003]

I say sue Blizzard's ass they are getting too strong and need to be killed off before gaming becomes a battle of trying to really convince yourself or not that what your doing is pathetic. Maybe the head CEO is secretly FPS Doug.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

I wonder when that patent was filed .... I experienced a virtual PC world in 1995 for the first time. Graphics weren't what they are now (as in no textures, only geometry with color), but it was a virtual world. It even used 3d glasses, that didn't work very well for most people.

 

[jaber2]

I am glad they finnaly are doing something about it, without them there wouldn't be any virtual worlds, I hope they would use the money to improve on their pattents and come up with a better way of interacting with virtual worlds.

 

[classzero]

Stop this planet, I want to get off.

 

[herniter]

I could have sworn I was able to interact with people in Diablo 1 on Battle Net which is a virtual space back in the 90s. What is a "virtual space" anyhow?

 

[Guest]

Complete and utter rubbish.. if the companies had filed at the time each MMO went online sure I would understand.. but its going on 8 (eight) years now for Blizzard and WoW... its all a ploy to get money because they are too useless to come up with anything new..
Sure Blizzard might have used other peoples ideas... but then everything on the planet created by man was someone else's idea or a dirivitive of someone else's idea at some point..
Grow up Worlds Inc.
By defination .. this court case would include every major RP game and every MMO on the market both US and Asia.
Next IBM and Apple will be suing us all for looking at a monitor and "plug in device of many alabetic keys designed to convay conversation" ie the keyboard.
Get the frack over it

 

[uglynerdman]

time to patent oxygen and sue EVERYONE

 

[LORD_ORION]

The publishers need to band together and stomp the patent trolls.

 

[jhansonxi]

[quotemsg=9359527,0,437949]Can someone please patent the process of suing for patent infringement?[/quotemsg]
Halliburton already tried that: http://boingboing.net/2008/11/17/halliburton-tries-to.html