I already patented the words "League" and "of." Looks like we are going to have a problem...WanderingFool said:
Activision Sued Over Online Multiplayer in Call of Duty, WoW
- Thread starter Tom Goldman
- Start date
I am very, very tired of this. Since the eighties, we've become suit-happy as a culture. The legal system is horribly broken, as is our political system here in the USA that panders to them. Is it truly any wonder that the idea that lawyers chasing after frivolous claim after frivolous claim have caused us to be as obsessed with political correctness and hurt feelings as we are, precluding us from even pointing out that a person's troubled life may be their own fault? Something drastic needs to be done to rein in this nonsense; it's destroying our society.Tom Goldman said:Activision Sued Over Online Multiplayer in Call of Duty, WoW
If Walker Digital has its way, Activision Blizzard will have to pay up big for allowing online multiplayer in its games.
Digital business corporation Walker Digital, parent company of Priceline.com and holder of hundreds of patents, recently filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard and Zynga for infringing on one such patent involving a "distributed electronic tournament system." The titles that Walker says infringe on its patent run the gamut, from the entire World of Warcraft [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Black-Ops-Xbox-360/dp/B003JVKHEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294324370&sr=8-1].
At the heart of the matter is a patent issued to Walker Digital in 2002 for a "database driven online distributed tournament system." The expanded patent describes "a method and a system for a distributed electronic tournament system in which many remotely located players participate in a tournament through input/output devices connected to a central controller which manages the tournament."
Walker Digital names Activision Inc., Actvision Publishing, Activision Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, and Zynga in the lawsuit, alleging that 24 of their products are infringing. These include most of the companies' popular online titles, such as both GoldenEye 007 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00269QLI8].
The lawsuit doesn't nail down a specific amount of compensation Walker Digital feels it's owed yet, but says this number will be "ascertained through discovery or at trial." Considering the scope of the titles named, it'll likely be gigantic. Last month, Walker Digital filed a lawsuit against Facebook over a patent regarding the management of information about one's self, so the company appears to be trying to make its bones by patent trolling to some degree.
Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32294/Walker_Digital_Suing_Zynga_Activision_Blizzard_Over_Gaming_Tournament_Patent.php]
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Patent laws really need to be reformed. They should be a temporary hold on an idea or technology and not outright ownership. for example, if i have an idea and patent it I should only have a certain amount of time where I have exclusive rights to the idea and no other companies can copy. But if I lack the capabilities to make that idea commercially viable I could just sell the patent so other companies can use it right away or have them wait out till it expires.
Additionally, you should not be able to hold a patent without actively using the ideas it is for. In this case it is Walker Digital holding a patent for online tournament play, but does Walker Digital actually host its own online tournaments? Is it losing business by the game companies hosting online tournaments which are supposedly Walker Digitals idea?
As it stands currently, patent laws are being abused by companies patenting as many ideas as they can without any serious plans to actually commercialize those ideas, they only do it to slow competition or make money by finding someone who infringes on those patents. It stifles innovation and hinders progress.
Additionally, you should not be able to hold a patent without actively using the ideas it is for. In this case it is Walker Digital holding a patent for online tournament play, but does Walker Digital actually host its own online tournaments? Is it losing business by the game companies hosting online tournaments which are supposedly Walker Digitals idea?
As it stands currently, patent laws are being abused by companies patenting as many ideas as they can without any serious plans to actually commercialize those ideas, they only do it to slow competition or make money by finding someone who infringes on those patents. It stifles innovation and hinders progress.
Sorry some lady beat you to that a while ago.treeboy027 said:
OT: This is stupid that means you have to file a lawsuit against hundreds of games. The court will throw this out.
I have recently patented breathing and beating hearts.... every one in the world owes me a dollar every time these things happen....FOREVER!
Fair enough you 2... I will sue you ground dude for volcanoes and earthquakes. They've killed millions! and i belive i and everyone else deserves compensation! Also please stop the plates moving....I liek england very much where it is.Super Toast said:
And Air dude i dont like the way you provide poorer service to people who live higher up! and all that business with shock-waves is frankly appalling. why would you transmit them if they hurt people? I hope you have deep pockets
That's the lamest patent ever if they wanna pull one like that.
If you want to make profit like that, you may as well patent the future. Anything ever made will pay royalties to you, new technologies, new products, newborn babies. Come on Walker Digital, think big, you're already going this far.
If you want to make profit like that, you may as well patent the future. Anything ever made will pay royalties to you, new technologies, new products, newborn babies. Come on Walker Digital, think big, you're already going this far.
Hehehe. Awesome.SIXVI06-M said:
How does something like this happen, though? The patent is not only very unspecific. And involves a concept that has been chosen separately for any amount of projects /before/ the patent was granted. But it also is something that is difficult to imagine a way around when creating games with statistics for more than two players.
It's the same as granting someone the patent for "a central collection of data from which multiple users can retrieve information". But then turn down another patent request for "a database".
