Comments on: Virtual Worlds May Be Sued For Patent Infringement

By: LorencoCot

LorencoCot — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:21:16 +0000

What do you think about WIKILEAKS?
Hih you hear me??

By: lr

lr — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:01:57 +0000

worlds.com was in the 3dchat worlds biz since 1994.
they predate Cybertown, which was sponsored by blaxxun, who then was blacksun, whose original passport application for 3d chat i believe shipped after the original worlds.com client.

There were a few 3d chat systems that did what the patents claim from the 1994-6 period.

And while im relegated to old man of factual history for you all:).. google COMPTONS and Multimedia Patents for the enivitable outcome of this “news story”.

I saw a post already from someone suggesting the same.

Worlds.com offered the first 3d chat like world with avatars that wasnt a game per say. Theres no doubt LL copied much from them, but the broad claims made on these type of patents should have founded patent reform in 1994 after the “Multimedia” mess and claims… but that would have been asking people to know and remember history..;)

By: Dusan

Dusan — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:14:34 +0000

@Vint – hmm, I should remove them like the old SL trademark days and call them the “World That Must Not Be Named”.

By: Vint Falken

Vint Falken — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:44:49 +0000

Twinity is German Based and at the Conference in London, to my surprise, there seemed to be quite a lot other German based ones. (But less ‘evolved’, flash mainly, and looking more like Google Lively than SL.)

Isn’t it possible worlds.com sees this as a way to get their name out there, under the ‘there’s no things as bad press’ motto? it definitely is the first time you’re mentioning them…

By: Dusan

Dusan — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:59:21 +0000

@ Brian – seems to me that a move like this is grasping at whatever straws you can find to stay alive. As in, no one knows who worlds.com is, they can’t actually get a business going, so let’s look in the library to see what we can either fire sale off or throw to the lawyers. I’m not even sure that the end game is law suits, it might instead to be gobbled up by those folks who run around sucking up little companies with dusty patents that they can turn into revenue streams through litigation.

And yeah, Worlds.com will hardly be on anyone’s thrill list – I wonder if their clients know about this? Intriguing that they have Aerosmith as a client hahaha.

By: Brian Regan

Brian Regan — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:10:16 +0000

This is terrible. Who are these guys? I do a lot of work in virtual worlds and do not have a clue who they are. Wait.. hmm, now we do, crappy PR tactic worked, but wait, I am sure to never go to or use their vw.

By: Dusan

Dusan — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:19:27 +0000

Europe rules Sacha. Best patent laws, best identity laws, best IP laws. Well, as far as you describe it anyways, I frankly don’t know enough about it. But how many virtual world platforms have been developed and are hosted in Europe – the issue here isn’t what’s happening in Europe, the issue is that most of the VW development (aside from the Asian worlds, which often seem like a massive beast of their own with woefully little cross-over) doesn’t HAPPEN in Europe, it happens in the US, or Australia maybe (I’m thinking Mycosym). If the patent lawyers start their path to destruction, with all the litigation costs, back room license deals, out-of-court settlement – I mean really, what a mess.

I’m sure it would be useful if we all lived in the Eden that is Europe, but for whatever reason that Eden doesn’t seem to me like the site of innovation, although sure, there’s peripheral examples. I can’t help wondering whether there isn’t a connection there somewhere – whether innovation doesn’t flow to where innovations are protected in different ways. The problem in the US is that like copyright protection, it has tilted for far too long in the direction of corporations and their interests over a) innovation and b) the rights of individuals to generate ideas without needing a team of lawyers to check that “blog commenting” hasn’t been patented.

By: sacha magne

sacha magne — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:55:07 +0000

fortunatly there are some european level laws that protect companies for thoses “late” claims.

By: Just Some Guy

Just Some Guy — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:28:54 +0000

Recoculous. Sadly money is bound to be wasted on this. And time, too.

Wouldn’t this just as likely extend to (ex:) WoW? But fat chance taking on /that/ lot, so no surprise they’d target the lower hanging fruit.

By: Ganesha

Ganesha — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:23:06 +0000

It’s okay, Al Gore tried to patent the Internet.
And does anyone remember CyberTown? Bet that beats out these goofs.