Blizzard Among MMO Developers Sued in Patent Infringement Case
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pixiestixy on Friday, September 18, 2009 - 30 Comments Tags: blizzard, case, court, data-sharing, halo, jagex, lawsuit, license, microsoft, mmorpg, ncsoft, paltalk, patent, patent infringement, proprietary, settlement, sony, sue, suit, technology, turbine
pixiestixy on Friday, September 18, 2009 - 30 Comments Tags: blizzard, case, court, data-sharing, halo, jagex, lawsuit, license, microsoft, mmorpg, ncsoft, paltalk, patent, patent infringement, proprietary, settlement, sony, sue, suit, technology, turbine 
Activision-Blizzard and several other leading developers of MMORPGs are the targets of a a lawsuit recently filed by Paltalk Holdings, according to an article in the Boston Globe. The complaint alleges that the makers of many leading MMORPGs have infringed upon Paltalk's patented technology that allows players at separate computers around the world to see the same images in-game simultaneously. According to the article:"In 2002, Paltalk purchased two patents from a company called HearMe, covering technologies for sharing data among many connected computers so that all users see the same digital environment. Paltalk claims that the data-sharing technologies used in games... violate those patents."
Other developers named in the suit include Sony Corp., which created Everquest; Turbine Inc., the makers of Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online; South Korea's NCSoft Corp., maker of Guild Wars; and British firm Jagex Ltd., which makes Runescape.
We've reported in the past on several other lawsuits involving Blizzard, such as one on a "Virtual World" patent, and it seems that there's always something new coming up that they must defend. Perhaps what sets this case apart is that Paltalk already defended the same patent against Microsoft Corp. In 2006, Paltalk sued Microsoft for its alleged use of the technology in Halo. The case was set to go to trial in March until Microsoft opted to settle out of court, paying Paltalk an undisclosed amount to license the patent rights, and in the process conceding that the patents are valid.
And it's obvious that Paltalk means business just based on where the case was filed: the U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas, "one of the nation’s most popular venues for patent lawsuits," because of its label as a "plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction."
Looks like Blizzard could have a bit of a fight ahead if the technology it uses can be proven to be different from Paltalk's proprietary designs. Or, it may need to pay up for licensing rights.
Reader Comments (30)
well blizzard and NcSoft may have something to worry about since both francises were born and copyrighted after 2002 but games like everquest copyrighted in 1998 and runescape copyrighted in 1999 do not need to feel threatened. IMO the makers of the games of runescape and everquest have a viable claim to sue this guy's ass for stealing their idea's and using them and then faultsly patenting it after the fact.
So... they bought these patents in 2002? That was over fifteen years after the first online game featuring a common rendered environment. (Air Warrior, by Kesmai, released in 1986)
What retard at the patent office is rubber stamping these bullshit patents?
This may a complete farce on the "patent holder" in order to get more money; however, a company or individual thats hold a patent retains it for at least 20 years for what that patent covers. It also possible to renew the patent yearly for a certain number of years. Also, he can at any time enforce those rights during the time in which he hold the rights. Unforunately, the jerk may be legimate. We will have to wait and see if our monthly price will raise.
Lol. Once I emailed LucasArts when I was a kid playing Lego Star Wars and Lego Star Wars 2, and suggested that they combine the 2 into a new game that had all the content. Guess what came out :)
I find it funny that because some fucker in AMERICA bought something, he has a right to sue anyone in the world. I don't think that's exactly right.
This is like if you patented air or something.