Trolling: World of Warcraft and Activision Violated some Virtual World Patent

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  • Shawn Zipay
    Managing Communities 24/7
    • Apr 2003
    • 69064

    #1

    Trolling: World of Warcraft and Activision Violated some Virtual World Patent

    A company named Worlds Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Activision, claiming that the publisher's games including Call of Duty and World of Warcraft have violated one of its patents.

    Worlds Inc. claims that these games violate a patent of theirs for a "system and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space."

    Uhm, right. That's fairly broad there and just screams "I'm a giant patent troll, feed me money to silence me!"

    They also did this same thing in 2008 against NCSoft for City of Heroes. That case was dismissed as the two parties settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

    "Technologies created by Worlds have helped the businesses of virtual worlds gaming and the sale of virtual goods to grow into a multi-billion dollar industry," said Worlds Inc. CEO Thom Kidrin.

    "While we are pleased to see that the gaming industry and its rapidly growing customer base have enthusiastically embraced our patented technologies, we deserve fair compensation for their use."

    Oh geeze.

    (Source)
  • nemes1s3000

    #2
    Something's off about this, I don't think we're being told the entire story. I mean that's a pretty stupid statement from them if that is in fact the actual case in question.

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    • Stev0esque
      5t3v0 (I miss leetspeech)
      • Feb 2008
      • 6786

      #3
      Re: Trolling: World of Warcraft and Activision Violated some Virtual World Patent

      I think that company is a known Patent troll.

      Comment

      • Shawn Zipay
        Managing Communities 24/7
        • Apr 2003
        • 69064

        #4
        Re: Trolling: World of Warcraft and Activision Violated some Virtual World Patent

        Originally posted by nemes1s3000
        Something's off about this, I don't think we're being told the entire story. I mean that's a pretty stupid statement from them if that is in fact the actual case in question.
        The company, in the simplest of terms, somehow holds a "patent" for what is essentially multiplayer gaming.

        They're patent trolls. They figure the companies won't fight it because even if they win, the legal fees would cost a fortune, so they'll settle out of court for some undisclosed sum. Patent Trolls, World Inc., get paid either way.

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