NCSoft is concerned about the location and the juries being biased toward American plaintiffs. However I do like how in the KoreaTimes article the quote..
A Seoul-based patent lawyer said Worlds.com is apparently a ``patent troll,'' or an opportunistic company that enforces its patents on those who infringe aggressively despite lacking the intention to manufacture and market the product.I'll end with a nice quote found on VirtualWorldNews when speaking to an NCSoft rep...
``Worlds.com is likely to be more interested in getting paid in a huge settlement than shutting down NCsoft's games,'' he said.
"We can't comment on potential litigation except to say that NCsoft takes all legal action seriously -- even if the company believes a lawsuit has no merit," a representative told me via email. "We intend to defend ourselves vigorously."
Good for NCsoft, hope they win. I love their games.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I hope they have something to pull themselves out of the fire.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I think MMO's need to be reinvented right now, as most are getting annoying.
Anyways, I do not wish NCSoft to fall, so I guess I will root for them.
It's about time someone is fighting back and calling it for what it is! I hope NCSoft counter suite for things like harassment and similar filings if they win.
ReplyDeleteFight the lazy companies / people out there!
I can see NCSoft winning.
ReplyDeleteI can see ignorant Americans who are hand picked by Worlds.com for their technology ignorance will award the American based company millions for their patent of an already existing medium of gaming simply because they are easily swayed hicks.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying all Americans are this stupid, just a large enough percentage that they can easily be found and chosen for jury duty.
I would personally hope that all involved have at least an idea of the meaning and spirit of patent law.
ReplyDeleteThey are relying heavily on their original patent (issued in 2001 I think, but filed for in 1996) to make this one stand up.
The original patent basically describes MUD's, Moo's, Mushes, IRC, and telnet based chat programs. MUD's have been around long enough that there were already articles on the HISTORY of the craft in existence in 1990.
WikiPedia (I know, it is not the greatest source of info, but it is one that people know), states that IRC was created in 1988, and even then it was inspired by another system that was developed in 1985.
Beyond that... Even if the company HAD applied for patents before these programs came into existence (programs which in some cases predate their patents by a decade), the company has made no attempts to enforce their patents in this entire time. 1996 was thirteen years ago, and this is the first we are hearing about their patents. They should have been defending the patent from the day the application was posted at the patent office. There is a reason that most products you see at the stores have the words “Patent Pending” printed on them somewhere. Most companies will go to the trouble of adding patent numbers as soon as they know the numbers assigned to those pending patents.
Most importantly, Patent law is intended to protect and encourage innovation. These patents are so broadly worded that they can do nothing but stifle innovation.
As for the comment made by Openedge1, their patents if upheld do not leave room for reinventing the MMO, unless you can come up with something that does not require a computer connection. They are claiming patents on 3D environments, and Text Based Chat systems. Come up with a non-graphical MMO that relies entirely on voice chat, and figure out how to teach people to play, and you are good to go.
...All the million dollars game company should just put a end to worlds.com hell we all know that they are going to sue them later when they got the cash to...
ReplyDelete