Mojang, Square Enix, EA and Others Sued For Patent Infringement

[RvLeshrac]

I fuckin' hate patents. Ideas should be free for everyone as long as people are not blatantly ripping other peoples ideas off.

These guys are obvious patent trolls. And as such they should be shot.

that...doesnt make any sense.

patents are there so people dont blatantly rip other peoples ideas off.
just ask china with their Ipud tablets, rulex watch.....

Wow, I want to go to star fucks now.

As do I. Remember their motto:
"We'll get you up in the morning."

Except not a single one of those things is patented. Those are all trademarks, which are protected under completely different legislation.

Patents work like this:

If you invent the telephone and I invent the telephone, independently, on other sides of a continent, the first one of us that gets the letter to the patent office is the only one allowed to make the product.

 

[Sqrt(-1)]

Here's the patent: http://www.google.com/patents/US6857067.

Uniloc isn't shy about these lawsuits. Half of their Q&A page is about their lawsuit with Microsoft (granted there are only six topics, but they also mention it again on their IP page).

 

[Kanatatsu]

This guy thinks up his lawsuits in a [b, i]VAN[/b], down by the RIVER!!!

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

Patent trolling should be punishable by death. These people are just looking for a payday off of other people's hard work, at the expense of the real creative groups. Shameful. Utterly shameful.

I look forward to this idiot getting his ass kicked in court.

 

[Stabinbac]

Here's the patent: http://www.google.com/patents/US6857067.

So this guy patented server based DRM checks?!

He's obviously just targeting Mojang because he's a dick. I'm pretty sure he can bring this thing against 90%+ of software sold. Not Just games.

 

[Shjade]

All true statements.

None of which support the notion that Notch has the knowledge or ability to beat someone who specializes in this kind of lawsuit, much less that he is someone who can be depended upon for it ("If anyone can do it, it's Notch.")

I think my statement of skepticism stands.

Notch's knowledge and ability don't amount to a hill of clams. What matters is his LAWYER'S knowledge and ability. I mean, unless he represents himself, which would make me headdesk through my computer.

Here's someone who's picking up what I'm putting down. Though I don't know why Notch's legal team would be expected to have any supremacy over these guys that their previous opponents lacked, either, it's at least a more sensible thought process than any kind of suggestion that Notch himself would be responsible for overturning some lawsuit.

 

[Kefo]

Best part of all this. He filed the patent against the software "Mindcraft". Notch can walk in, say I dont know what the fuck you are talking about I make a game called Minecraft, judge dismisses the case and hopefully in the process calls the guy out on being a huge dick and charges him for wasting the courts time

 

[theultimateend]

What a jerkwad. I'm getting real tired of these constant patent disputes.

It's a bad system that needs overhauling. I always hope that one of these court cases will be the straw that breaks the camels back.

 

[9thRequiem]

Best part of all this. He filed the patent against the software "Mindcraft". Notch can walk in, say I dont know what the fuck you are talking about I make a game called Minecraft, judge dismisses the case and hopefully in the process calls the guy out on being a huge dick and charges him for wasting the courts time

I was hoping for that; sadly, the document uses the phrase "including, but not limited to Mindcraft", so the name being wrong doesnt help.

 

[theblindedhunter]

So if you sue for damages on a patent you don't use and were making no effort to use...
Shouldn't you get $0?

 

[Stabinbac]

So if you sue for damages on a patent you don't use and were making no effort to use...
Shouldn't you get $0?

If you go to the Uniloc website you'll discover they very vague descriptions of some sort of security solutions they can offer. It's likely the only service is taking your money to license their patents, but they are actively marketing it. Wikipedia seems to say that Sega was listed on a customers page their website used to have.

 

[Loonyyy]

Patent law is utter bullshit.

It basically assumes that some shithead that no one cares about invented something by writing an idea down on paper, and then a giant company, who has MILLIONS of dollars in R&D just somehow found his idea and stole it.

This guy was personally awarded $15 million of the total $388 million from the microsoft suit.

With 7 billion people on the planet, chances are 2 people might be working on the same thing at roughly the same time.

The guy doesn't even create working prototypes of any of his "inventions".

I should create a patent for "button that when pressed, does everything for you" and wait for some actual company to do the work, then swoop in and take a claim.


Fuck this guy.

While it's abused like hell for the wrong reason, the patent law is actually meant to work the other way, ie, if I come up with a new idea, I can patent it to guarantee that I'll make money of it. It's meant to encourage invention and innovation. And yeah, it's possible for me to come up with an idea, on my own, better than the ones being spent millions on in RnD by corporates, and lose it to them. Because if I want to sell my idea, I'm going to have to share it with them and try to sell them on it. By patenting it, I ensure that they can't just listen to my idea, send me on my way, and then make it, sans me, and pay no royalties.

Unfortunately, like copyright, it's now being used by litigious assholes to try to bolt down anything that they can as theirs so they can sue someone, and ends up working against invention and innovation. So their not useless, per se, they're just broken, and at the moment, misused.

Thanks Edge Games, Tim Landell, Apple, and Dick Richardson. You guys are inventive legends *Sarcasm*.

 

[mad825]

Here's the patent: http://www.google.com/patents/US6857067.

So this guy patented server based DRM checks?!

He's obviously just targeting Mojang because he's a dick. I'm pretty sure he can bring this thing against 90%+ of software sold. Not Just games.

It's really Markus whos the dick here, he who thinks that money can cure bad manners. Ric just seems to be protecting in what he owns and created from being used and abused just like any other inventor and even if he's trying to earn money from it, piracy isn't justifiable.

This isn't even the first case, they tried MS and MS cracked by arranging a private deal.

 

[hooksashands]

It just clicked.

This guy looks eerily similar to Elby Jessie Hars, a pedophile arrested while trying to flee the country in 2000.

 

[tlozoot]

Ric Richardson doesn't own Unlioc. He is a minor shareholder. Allegedly he doesn't even own the patent that's up for dispute. He is pretty much irrelevant to this case.

 

[grigjd3]

Patent Trolls - lowest form of life, ever.

 

[LRed01]

Here's the patent: http://www.google.com/patents/US6857067.

So this guy patented server based DRM checks?!

He's obviously just targeting Mojang because he's a dick. I'm pretty sure he can bring this thing against 90%+ of software sold. Not Just games.

It's really Markus whos the dick here, he who thinks that money can cure bad manners. Ric just seems to be protecting in what he owns and created from being used and abused just like any other inventor and even if he's trying to earn money from it, piracy isn't justifiable.

This isn't even the first case, they tried MS and MS cracked by arranging a private deal.

Hmm I smell a troll but just in case you actually believe that in what way is he protecting what he created? did you read the patent? that is the reason this suit is being filed that they use something that prevents access to data on electronic devices.
Wouldn't a password be filled under this?
Hmm maybe it's sarcasm I smell it is a possibility...

 

[Living Contradiction]

Oh, this is going to be fun... At least twice, I see getting that guy stomped into the ground. Once by Notch and once by EA.

Actually, EA might make this suit a profitable one for the troll. EA is already running in the red and doesn't have the time or patience to deal with him. They'll probably fall into the "give him a million and make him go away" camp.

Step 1: patent copyright trolling
step 2: become counter-trolling legend

Give this man a no prize!

On topic, Notch might be able to shut this doorknob up once and for all. Texas law doesn't allow for a suit to be dismissed until after discovery happens unless there is a settlement. That means that all evidence, pretrial hearings, the depositions of witnesses, and so on have to happen before either side can ask a judge for a "can we go home now?" motion.

Notch is in Sweden. I wonder how long it'll take all the evidence to make its way across the Atlantic?

 

[uncanny474]

Here's someone who's picking up what I'm putting down. Though I don't know why Notch's legal team would be expected to have any supremacy over these guys that their previous opponents lacked, either, it's at least a more sensible thought process than any kind of suggestion that Notch himself would be responsible for overturning some lawsuit.

Having money = Good legal team. Case-in-point; Bill Gates is the richest high-profile person in the world (note the HIGH PROFILE part) with possibly the most profitable corporation in the world, one that puts the M in Monopoly, and his (read: Microsoft's) legal team performs miracles on a daily basis. Miracles from hell, that screw people over, but miracles nonetheless. Notch isn't quite as rich, but he makes up for it with his fiscal irresponsibility, and his hatred of anything that goes against what the internet wants.

The man spends tens of thousands of dollars on the INDIE BUNDLES. I don't even WANT to know what he'll do with the rest of Mojang backing him on a legal issue.