NCsoft Sued for Patent Infringement

ArchMarduk

"Mass.-based online company Worlds.com is suing NCsoft for infringing on a patent that seems to lay claim to fundamental aspects of MMO games.

Worlds.com said in its December 24 court filing that South Korea's NCsoft has infringed on U.S. patent 7,181,690, a "System and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space." NCsoft also has locations in the U.S.

The plaintiff said NCsoft is willfully and deliberately infringing on the patent. "Worlds has been damaged by the infringement by NCSoft and is suffering, and will continue to suffer, irreparable harm and damage as a result of this infringement, unless such infringement is enjoined by this Court," reads the suit (pdf).

The patent in question describes methods to allow a user to "interact with other users in a virtual space" through a server, with an avatar representing each user.

The patent's abstract reads in part, "The present invention provides a highly scalable architecture for a three-dimensional graphical, multi-user, interactive virtual world system."

Worlds.com filed the patent in August of 2000, and the government issued the patent in February 2007. The inventors listed on the patent are Dave Leahy, Judith Challinger, B. Thomas Adler and S. J. Ardron.

NCsoft is the publisher of games including Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars, Lineage and City of Heroes.

Worlds.com dropped a not-so-subtle hint that it would be bringing MMO makers to court over its patents when earlier in December, General Patent Corp., a patent licensing and enforcement firm, announced attorneys Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP would be "enforcing" Worlds.com patents.

At the time, the law firm said it would defend the '690 patent and another filing, patent 6,219,045, a "Scalable Virtual World Chat Client-Server System."

Worlds.com, which was founded in 1994, is demanding that the court find the patent "valid and enforceable," and is seeking damages as well as a permanent injunction against any infringement of the patent by NCsoft.

Source: Virtual Worlds News"

can this be the beggining of the end for many MMO's ?

zerocount

I remember this report from a few months ago, they are just trying their luck.

Nothing to worry about.

Rayx0r

Ya these guys are a joke.  Theyre basically saying they own the rights to every single MMO out there.  They plan on going after a lot of MMO companies

Hashbrick

This is the plague of America, sue happy motherfuckers. Scum of the earth.

kingbloop

wth. like no one in the universe would come up with the idea for a 3d enviroment for interacting with other people... main thing that gets me is MMORPGS are games. Worlds.com looks lame and not anywhere close to the same thing imo. i am curious as to other's thoughts on this.

simsimhada

that looks super funny lol

so. they will make A LOT OF MONEY and almost MMO's kick out from internet?

WTF

zerocool

I don't see this holding up in any sane and logical court system in the present day.

maxnrosy

whats funny is they plan to sue soe and blizzard also XD

Mystik86

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Has humanity truly gotten this selfish?

Nadia

that news is from 4 months ago, December

www.massively.com/2008/12/29/worlds-com-files-suit-against-ncsoft-for-patent-infringement/

The suit was filed on Christmas Eve, December 24th, and charged NCsoft with infringement of patent 7,181,690

 

 

www.massively.com/2009/03/12/world-of-warcraft-and-second-life-are-next-says-worlds-com-ceo/

if the suit against NCsoft succeeds, industry leaders World of Warcraft and Second Life are next.

The company's legal representatives in this action, General Patent Corporation also yesterday announced that Worlds.com has been granted a third patent that extends the reach of their existing two.

 

Mystik86

Gah, {mod edit}. How do they figure they can get away with that? It's bogus, completely. I think it's because they lack what all of the MMOs do not, a game to call their own. These morons somehow think they're smart and that completely boggles my brains. Though, if you think about it-anything you publish is technically trademarked and since there were MMOs before 2000, I believe these idiots have dick all going for them. Patent or not, the first company to lay claim to the rights did it long before these goons showed up...

hail2dathief

 This is the lamest thing I have heard since the woman sued mcdonalds for the coffee being hot and the cup didn't say so, sadly she won.  One thing that makes me laugh is the fact that they filed for the patent in 2000 and UO had been out for a number of years before that.  This is a joke and if they win then the world will be ending in 2012.   I doubt they will cause it's just ludicrous and this goes against everything america stands for... capitalism.  If they succeed then there is going to be a monopoly on the whole MMO market across the world. I hope they die and burn in hell for this if they win and if not then just beaten profusely.

-cheers

Lazzeras

That crazy they will never win this.Another thing why wait till now 15 yrs. later to sue anyone M59,UO,EQ was first MMORPG's out from 97-99.This suit is a big fat joke.

wolvie3131

Originally posted by zerocool


I don't see this holding up in any sane and logical court system in the present day.

 

Obviously you have failed to realize how just how insane and senseless American courtrooms have become, it's no longer about dolling out justice , but who can make the most money the easiset way possible.

and yes I am an american.......

Nadia

 

www.businessinsider.com/2008/12/how-to-win-a-patent-case-sue-foreigners-in-xenophobic-troll-friendly-east-texas

Bad news for NCsoft (and good for worlds): The suit is being filed in the Eastern District of Texas.

Why East Texas? Two reasons: First, East Texan courts are notorious for being weighted towards plaintiffs in patent infringement lawsuits, something we've written about before when Nintendo (NTDOY) lost a $21 million case on the grounds its Gamecube controllers violated another company's intellectual property.

And there's a second reason, which hints at why a Korean company may have been the first to be targeted. As lawyers familiar with patent cases explain to Virtualworldsnews:

"Being a foreign defendant in Texas is not a pleasant thing," he said of NCsoft, which is primarily a Korean company. "The juries are, many would say, biased towards American plaintiffs and have a propensity to offer high damages. Some defendants might view them as an unfriendly jury and it might make the defendant more likely to settle."

 

 

MIT Technology Review: A Haven for Patent Pirates

In one federal court in East Texas, plaintiffs have such an easy time winning patent-infringement lawsuits against big-tech companies that defendants often choose to settle rather than fight.

www.technologyreview.com/InfoTech-Software/wtr_16280,300,p1.html

 

Abrahmm

What low life pieces of crap. I hope they all die in a fire.

Kyleran

NCSoft might be a soft target, but if they go up against Blizzard they'll be battleing someone with insanely deep pockets....be interesting to see the outcome.

rankor2

Things like this only happen in America. When will american judges grow some balls and stop pathetic lawsuits like this even making a court room.

And why NCSOFT? Why not start with blizzard?

 

IronZ

Originally posted by wolvie3131

Originally posted by zerocool


I don't see this holding up in any sane and logical court system in the present day.

 

Obviously you have failed to realize how just how insane and senseless American courtrooms have become, it's no longer about dolling out justice , but who can make the most money the easiset way possible.

and yes I am an american.......

 

Yes, our court system is a complete joke.  I think they will win something in the end.  They shouldn't, but they will.

Z

RavZterz

<*//><

That's a fish...and I invented it. Next person who types those characters in that same order is fucked.

 

Honestly, this is a joke...where did they get the idea to take this to court now...maybe a couple years ago it would have made sense.

And the patents were filed after the first 3D MMOs were made...it'd be funny if some of these companies with more financial resources attmpted to counter sue for copyright infringement.

URNotMega

Marketing.  They sue a big MMO company, all MMO players find out about it, huge exposure to target audience for their site.  Winning would be a bonus, they've already succeeded.

ElRenmazuo

I hope they do go after blizzard so these fuckers will burn. 

Abrahmm

Originally posted by URNotMega


Marketing.  They sue a big MMO company, all MMO players find out about it, huge exposure to target audience for their site.  Winning would be a bonus, they've already succeeded.

 

For the wrong reasons though. I can't help that anyone with any morality or ethics wouldn't touch a product from this company with a 10ft stick... But then again, you could be right, people still pay money to SOE.

WisebutCruel

"Worlds.com filed the patent in August of 2000, and the government issued the patent in February 2007."

That's the key, right there.

If they filed in 2000, it would have been listed as a pending copyright. Which NCsoft or any other company could view as public information.

Would not be hard to imagine a game company seeing a technology they want has not yet been given its patent and using it for themselves.

Point is, the date the patent was filed is the important date, not when the patent was finally issued over 6 years later. The patent is legally enforceable using the date of filing as the date of effectiveness So any company who used similar technology during that interim, whether on purpose or by coincidence ( hard to justify coincidence when it's easy to look up patents beforehand ), is liable for any compensation sought.

And quite frankly, considering the propensity for asian countries like Korea and China to look at copyright as an open  invitation to steal for their own benefit, I wouldn't doubt if NCsoft did try to get away with something such as this.

Anyway, if the plaintiff indeed has a case, I for one will enjoy seeing them rake in the money from NCsoft and anyone else who was too stupid to have their lawyers check copyrights beforehand.

 

RavZterz

Originally posted by Abrahmm


For the wrong reasons though. I can't help that anyone with any morality or ethics wouldn't touch a product from this company with a 10ft stick... But then again, you could be right, people still pay money to SOE.

 

I doubt any MMO players would spend their time on that junk.  It's not even a game and I'm not sure how they can call it a world.

xiirot

sigh... again... it's a sad world indeed