Paltalk sues MMO companies.

[Cousin_Itt]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/09/multiple-mmo-developerspublishers-named-in-patent-suit.ars

Some of the biggest names in the MMO business have been named in a patent lawsuit that claims their multiplayer technology violates patents that allow players to experience the same digital environments simultaneously. New York-based Paltalk Holdings, Inc. has named Sony, NCsoft, Activision Blizzard, Turbine Studios, and Jagex Ltd. as defendants in the case.

The suit was filed in Marshall, Texas; a typical starting point for patent legal lawsuits because it's considered plaintiff-friendly in such cases. The basis for the complaint stems from the claim that the companies are infringing on patents that Paltalk purchased in 2002 from another company called HearMe.

Essentially, the patents cover sharing data between computers that are connected together so users see the same digital environment. Paltalk claims that the technology used by the defendants in their games violates these patents because players have to see the same environs simultaneously when they play an MMO title together.

The problem for the named defendants is that Paltalk managed to already score a noticeable victory on this front against Microsoft. In 2006, the company sued Microsoft over the multiplayer technology used in its Halo games. The case went to trial in Marshall, but Microsoft decided to settle with Paltalk mid-trial. While the settlement itself doesn't constitute a legal victory, it makes things more challenging for the defendants, having given credibility to the claims.

I really think this is funny that no one else has posted on here. I found a link to an earlier article that had the link to the two patents in question.

http://www.lawyersinagamersworld.com/2009/02/back-in-2006-paltalk-sued-microsoft_05.html

 

[Phyeir]

I was just waiting for Marshall Texas to pop up in that article.... second paragraph, not shocking.

 

[SML]

I lived a town over from Marshall for years and never knew that patent lawsuits were commonly filed there.

 

[ki_atsushi]

What the fuck! Multiplayer technology shouldn't even be something that's patentable (if that's even a word ). People have been playing games over the internet almost since the motherfucker was invented.