Turbine Faces Patent Troll

[Agayek]

Is it possible that a company can claim infringement on a patent that's only five months old by services that have been running for more than five years?

No, it isn't. Nothing to worry about.

Technically, it's possible. It depends on the particulars of the patent and supposed infringement. If Turbine is using a specific way of gathering the information that the patent covers, and they didn't patent it themselves, it's definitely possible that it could be found as infringing.

It's one of the more ludicrous bits of current patent law.

Personally, I'd hope the judge has is sensible to rule logically rather than legally, but that's somewhat rare.

 

[GTwander]

Is it possible that a company can claim infringement on a patent that's only five months old by services that have been running for more than five years?

No, it isn't. Nothing to worry about.

Technically, it's possible. It depends on the particulars of the patent and supposed infringement. If Turbine is using a specific way of gathering the information that the patent covers, and they didn't patent it themselves, it's definitely possible that it could be found as infringing.

It's one of the more ludicrous bits of current patent law.

Personally, I'd hope the judge has is sensible to rule logically rather than legally, but that's somewhat rare.

~But the tech existed before the patent itself. These assholes are just claiming to have come up with it.

What if I went and patented the wheel? Or "a way to verbally communicate with others using words"? Yeah, lets see how you all like it when I sue you all for speaking.

 

[Agayek]

~But the tech existed before the patent itself. These assholes are just claiming to have come up with it.

What if I went and patented the wheel? Or "a way to verbally communicate with others using words"? Yeah, lets see how you all like it when I sue you all for speaking.

If you did not file a patent for an invention, it doesn't matter when you created it. If someone else sees it and puts a patent in, they own the idea. Your examples here are unpatentable, but only because they've made special exceptions for things like that.

Patent law as-is is completely retarded, you'll never see me defend it, but it is what it is.

Edit: To make it more clear, when it comes to patent law, all that matters is the patent filing date. If you didn't file a patent for an idea, it doesn't matter how long you've been using it or what you've been using it for, you do not own the idea. Personally, I find the whole thing rather... offensive, but that's how it is.

 

[NoPants2win]

Agayek, I wikied this just for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_art

 

[Ishigami]

I doubt that will go anywhere.
Still funny.

Anyway the patent laws in most places seem to be not sufficiently adapted to our digital age.
One reason why I'm going to vote for the Pirates (again).

 

[Veylon]

I doubt that will go anywhere.
Still funny.

Anyway the patent laws in most places seem to be not sufficiently adapted to our digital age.
One reason why I'm going to vote for the Pirates (again).

The current system isn't sufficiently adapted for any age. When Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin, he couldn't (and didn't) just say "a machine which will separate cotton threads from seeds by turning a crank", he actually designed a machine to do it. The standards have slipped quite a bit since then.

 

[ExtraDebit]

Patent laws really need a reboot.

They should make is so that whatever idea one conceive, one has to be currently utilizing it or in the case of a product build it at least 50% before it is patentable.

Or whoever finish the product first gets the patent.

 

[Sylveria]

From the way it is worded.. it sounds like they've tried to patent putting bar-graphs on the internet.

I'm gonna patent "A Medium for Broadcasting Inane Comments on a Digital Display Device" and sue every single website ever made.

 

[devilmore]

~But the tech existed before the patent itself. These assholes are just claiming to have come up with it.

What if I went and patented the wheel? Or "a way to verbally communicate with others using words"? Yeah, lets see how you all like it when I sue you all for speaking.

If you did not file a patent for an invention, it doesn't matter when you created it. If someone else sees it and puts a patent in, they own the idea. Your examples here are unpatentable, but only because they've made special exceptions for things like that.

Patent law as-is is completely retarded, you'll never see me defend it, but it is what it is.

Edit: To make it more clear, when it comes to patent law, all that matters is the patent filing date. If you didn't file a patent for an idea, it doesn't matter how long you've been using it or what you've been using it for, you do not own the idea. Personally, I find the whole thing rather... offensive, but that's how it is.

That'S not entriely true. Trubine can just file their own game as prior art and the patent will be dismissed. Unless Treehouse Whatevertroll argues that it's not prior art in which case Turbine still won't have to pay since Treehouse will have to drop the charges since they just argued their patent is about something else entirely.

The patent system is stupid but not as stupid as most make it out to be. The problem is that most sites always write news about new ludicrous lawsuits but never about how those fail or are dismissed. Anyone can file a lawsuit agaoinst anybody about anything, that doesn't make the system wrong.

And Treehouse will have to pay for court costs if they lose. And they will los


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_art
There is a nice Stack Exchange in the wroks to allow people inline to submit Prior Art to current patent cases which will hopefully speed up the process.
Since in this case the Pior Art is the subject of the lawsuit it shouldn't be hard to find.

 

[Fasckira]

Patent laws really need a reboot.

They should make is so that whatever idea one conceive, one has to be currently utilizing it or in the case of a product build it at least 50% before it is patentable.

Or whoever finish the product first gets the patent.

Not strictly fair, I'd say that they at least have to be able to provide proof that they're actively developing it. Someone may come up with an idea but lack the funds to immediately create it, which is where a patent can be used to protect them long enough to roll out a working whatever-it-is.

EDIT: Urgh, just re-read your post, somehow missed the bit about it being 50% complete!

 

[Frostbyte666]

Oh god I've just had an exam and part of it related to patents using the NOrM method. That is a patent has to be Novel, Original (non-obvious to a specialist), capable of Manufacture (or realized in a functional way). Considering this patent is 5 years after a company practiced this method it has already failed the original part, it has also been manufactured independent of the patent. and since a company has already achieved this it isn't novel. Now I admit this may be more to UK patenting and kind of a basic description, also as devilmore mentioned there is the prior art defense where they can ask how has the patent improved on the previous existing design.

 

[Britisheagle]

Can't see this going any further to be honest. That being said they will probably recieve some sort of compensation for being granted a patent which should never have been given in the first place.

 

[TechNoFear]

A big problem is that Turbine's legal costs will not be covered, and usually can not be awarded by the court (so we are talking a loss in the millions, even if Turbine wins).

So it would probably be cheaper for Turbine to settle (buy a license), but that will give the patent validity.

The troll can then go after bigger targets, armed with Turbine's acceptance of the patent.

This is why the troll started with a 'mid-sized' game company, probably too small to be able to spend millions on the legal fight, but a big enough name to be helpful when the troll sues other companies.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

I just did some Googling, I find it funny that Treehouse Avatar Technologies didn't even exist until late September 2011. And they don't even have a website of their own, no Twitter, not even a Facebook, does this company even exist as anything but a formality?

 

[Paladin2905]

Just another example of patent law used in a way it was never intended to be. Dovetails nicely with an article in the New York Times this week I heard about on the radio last night about patents being used as weapons instead of their intentional purpose (keeping innovation moving). I really think it is a shame that this sort of patent can even be granted; it really undermines the whole idea of keeping things going. Unfortunately I can't see it changing at all.

For anyone who's interested, the article in the NYT is at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/technology/patent-wars-among-tech-giants-can-stifle-competition.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

[Treblaine]

Turbine: You want me to pay your ransom, well here it is.

And this is as close as you'll ever get to it.

Drop the case now, Or I swear I will use all of this... ALL OF IT to destroy you. I'll hire the best lawyers in the business and sue you for everything.

You still have a chance to do the right thing.

(or at least that's what I think they should do).

 

[Vivi22]

Edit: To make it more clear, when it comes to patent law, all that matters is the patent filing date. If you didn't file a patent for an idea, it doesn't matter how long you've been using it or what you've been using it for, you do not own the idea. Personally, I find the whole thing rather... offensive, but that's how it is.

Yeah, offensive probably is the best way to put it. The entire patent system in the US is a joke and needs to be redone. The fact that someone can patent an idea around the implementation of software is laughable. It makes me glad that, here in Canada at least, software can't be patented, only copyrighted, leaving other people free to reach the same outcome in a different way.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Ah yes the lawsuit troll companies, sadly it is now more lucrative to buy up patents and sue everyone then it is to actually make something of your own.

Nuke them from orbit, only way to be sure.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I read this as a company patenting the troll image. I am disapoint