Sony and Activision Get (Patent) Trolled
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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Seriously I despise DRM as much as the next guy but the US really needs to retool their laws on patents. I am waiting for the patent on controlling a system with a some sort of control to come out of the woodwork if someone owned that they could theoretically sue darn near every manufacturer in the us. If you do not use my codebase, my graphics, or my name then sure go ahead and make whatever it is you came up with an idea to make.
This is almost as stupid as apples suits because they had a patent on a touch interactivity and a object oriented graphics system.
I read the patent. It was granted in Australia in 1992 and the grant of US patent in 1996 was likely part of a whole set of international patent reconciliations around then. From what I can tell, even Kagi and Ambrosia Software style DRM could be targeted. I highly suspect the size of their markets had a HUGE bearing on their lack of inclusion.MaxPowers666 said:
Im sorry but as soon as i read "Milkshake" this got stuck in my head >.<
And can i ask, i know im going to sound like a retarded Goose, but what exactly is DRM? =S I've heard it over and over again and still get confused (yes...i could try Google, but lately i think i should just rather ask my cat, i would get alot more sense from her)
I take it it's a bad thing, considering no one likes it XD
On the one hand, it's nice they're suing over DRM which is a bane on gamers. On the other, this is clearly a group of filthy money grubbers who are only suing because companies now have lots of money.
Kind of a weird situation.
Kind of a weird situation.
While this particular instance seems relatively one-sided... I bet it really pisses people off when they have a good/great/useful idea, present said idea to a large company, get laughed out of the room or ignored entirely, and eventually find said big company using their idea some years later to turn an enormous profit.
It's really not so cut and dry wherever money is involved. People on both sides have every reason to manipulate the truth.
I agree with Carmac. Broad conceptual software patents are nonsensical - unless someone is blatantly ripping off a detailed program or feature "word for word", anyways.
To be honest I'm a big defender of patent laws, especially internationally.
When it comes to things like this, it can be touchy since your dealing with what amounts to a patent on an idea which the developer didn't have the resources to follow through on when conceived. A lot of inventors come up with ideas, patent them, and then try and sell them to companies to develop. This can be a touchy subject if someone shops around a patented idea, a company rejects them (not wanting to pay) and then steals the idea, it can get paticularly nasty if people then start copying the ideas of the thief.
Big businesses also have major legal departments, and can make things very difficult for idea men and inventors to obtain reparations. We've seen stuff like this going on for decades involving all kinds of things from airplanes, to cars. Heck, I believe there was one not too terribly long ago about someone who patented the idea of an MMO including an idea of how it would work, shopped it around, never sold it, and then was going after a ton of companies. Not sure how it worked out, but I thought they had a legitimate point at the time.
At any rate, we're only hearing part of the story here. We have no idea if these guys really did nothing for 14 years, or if they have been fighting on the fringes of this trying to get friendly acknowlegement before going legal. They could have been being strung along. Also, while prolific we have no idea what kind of knowlege these guys had, and/or it might have only been recently where they were able to examine the systems in enough detail to determine that their ideas were being stolen.
Given that they were involved in a case they won in 2003, and apparently still fighting it until 2009 where an initial victory was overturned (not surprising given who they were up against and how much money was involved), I'm not sure if that counts as "doing nothing" exactly since they seem to have been at this for six years. There is a practical limit in how many legal actions someone can be involved in due to time, effort, and expense. I have no idea how big "Uniloc" actualy is but I'm guessing not very.
We'll see how it turns out. I'm not supporting them because of the fact that they are after big businesses, or even the fact that this could kill DRM, but simply because if they are patent holders and really did come up with this kind of a system 14 years ago and had it patented they deserve credit for their idea.
When it comes to things like this, it can be touchy since your dealing with what amounts to a patent on an idea which the developer didn't have the resources to follow through on when conceived. A lot of inventors come up with ideas, patent them, and then try and sell them to companies to develop. This can be a touchy subject if someone shops around a patented idea, a company rejects them (not wanting to pay) and then steals the idea, it can get paticularly nasty if people then start copying the ideas of the thief.
Big businesses also have major legal departments, and can make things very difficult for idea men and inventors to obtain reparations. We've seen stuff like this going on for decades involving all kinds of things from airplanes, to cars. Heck, I believe there was one not too terribly long ago about someone who patented the idea of an MMO including an idea of how it would work, shopped it around, never sold it, and then was going after a ton of companies. Not sure how it worked out, but I thought they had a legitimate point at the time.
At any rate, we're only hearing part of the story here. We have no idea if these guys really did nothing for 14 years, or if they have been fighting on the fringes of this trying to get friendly acknowlegement before going legal. They could have been being strung along. Also, while prolific we have no idea what kind of knowlege these guys had, and/or it might have only been recently where they were able to examine the systems in enough detail to determine that their ideas were being stolen.
Given that they were involved in a case they won in 2003, and apparently still fighting it until 2009 where an initial victory was overturned (not surprising given who they were up against and how much money was involved), I'm not sure if that counts as "doing nothing" exactly since they seem to have been at this for six years. There is a practical limit in how many legal actions someone can be involved in due to time, effort, and expense. I have no idea how big "Uniloc" actualy is but I'm guessing not very.
We'll see how it turns out. I'm not supporting them because of the fact that they are after big businesses, or even the fact that this could kill DRM, but simply because if they are patent holders and really did come up with this kind of a system 14 years ago and had it patented they deserve credit for their idea.
Honestly, I don't think Uniloc is being stupid here, this is a chance to get a lot of cash, they're a business, so they're going for it.
The stupid people are the ones who issued them such a disgustingly broad patent.
Wouldn't it be great if all DRM systems ceased and desisted because of this? LOL!
The stupid people are the ones who issued them such a disgustingly broad patent.
Wouldn't it be great if all DRM systems ceased and desisted because of this? LOL!
Exactly, it seems that way, but they probably do have a right to sue, because they do have the patent.Plurralbles said:
The people who did something wrong here are the ones that approved such an insanely broad patent.
Uniloc lose.
The end.
But seriously I am getting sick and tired of these patents that small companies supposedly made decades ago.
The end.
But seriously I am getting sick and tired of these patents that small companies supposedly made decades ago.
One would think a patent would be so specific it would be difficult to prove someone is copying and/or infringing upon, but with all these patent infringement suits I have to wonder if I could do a ten worded essay on my concept for "Purple People Eater Containment Systems" and have it made from then on. (see diagram ab-23 for further details)
This is interesting timing after Kotick just settled a suit. Guess they figure the company he is running will be just as capitulating.
This is interesting timing after Kotick just settled a suit. Guess they figure the company he is running will be just as capitulating.