Major MMO Devs Targeted in Patent Lawsuit

**Valigarmander** · 09-17-2009, 06:41 PM

GameSpy: Major MMO Devs Targeted in Patent Lawsuit - Page 1

Quote:

The Boston Globe's online portal is reporting on a patent infringement lawsuit aimed at several MMO developers. Paltalk Holdings Inc. is the plaintiff in the case, claiming that their data-sharing patents (which were purchased from a company named HearMe in 2002) were violated by MMO developers.

The specific technology in question is one that simultaneously displays the same gaming environment to hundreds of online gamers. Paltalk did defend against its patents once before, against the multiplayer tech used in Microsoft Corp.'s Halo series, settling out of court mid-trial. This gives Paltalk a precedent, and helps strengthen its argument.

Another crucial factor in this case is the location of the suit's filing, Marshall Texas. According to Boston.com, the U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas is known for its "plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction," and was also the location of Paltalk's former lawsuit against Microsoft.

Turbine (Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online), Sony (Everquest), Activision Blizzard (World of Warcraft), NCSoft (Guild Wars) and Jagex (Runescape) were the developers named in the suit.

Apparently, data-sharing has been patented too.

***Cosmonautical*** · 09-18-2009, 01:44 AM

heh, sit back and watch blizzard tear them a new *******

09-18-2009, 01:44 AM	#2
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,151 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	heh, sit back and watch blizzard tear them a new *******