Comments on: The Demise of the Word Balloon Patent

By: [Gold Farmer's Name Redacted]

[Gold Farmer's Name Redacted] — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:08:15 +0000

It seems everyone wants to claim they were the first. Just like in real world, everyone would do anything to claim the glory.

By: Torley

Torley — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:40:08 +0000

What a great story. Virtual worlds, real lessons to learn from.

By: Muckbeast

Muckbeast — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:02:03 +0000

That was an extremely interesting and detailed story.
How did Will pay for his defense?
How much did his defense run him approximately?
-Michael
Muckbeast – Game Design and Virtual Worlds
http://www.muckbeast.com

By: F. Randall Farmer

F. Randall Farmer — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:56:36 +0000

Anonymous Coward writes: “Is this really “the little guy” though?”
I stand by my characterization: At the time of the suit’s filing, Will was “the little guy.”
In November 2005, There.com had previously claimed 6 million registered users and IMVU was less that 1/10th that. Also, There.com had received at least $14 million in new funding on top of the original $40m they’d burned through in the proceeding three years.
Sure, now IMVU is larger than There.com – that just means that they’re doing more things right than There.com is.
Randy

By: Douglas Crockford

Douglas Crockford — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:51:30 +0000

The Congress shall have Power…To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; [http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec8.html]
One of the ironies in this story is the patent system being used against Inventors to frustrate Progress.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:16:25 +0000

The patent claim Will signed wasn’t said to be false. If you actually read the article as written it specificly states:
“After reviewing the patent, it was obvious to me that Will’s interpretation was right – the patent was not meant to cover all 3D word balloons, it was something he called “Chat Wads”"
Again reading it in detail the statement was the lawsuit was trying to go beyond the scope of the original patent. Which is why that quote is worded the way it is (not meant to cover all 3d word balloons).

By: Anonymous Coward

Anonymous Coward — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:46:53 +0000

Is this really “the little guy” though? It sounds to me as if Will signed a patent claim he knew was false. And, while he was still at IMVU (no longer employed there?), I think IMVU was at least as big as Forterra, so how is this “little guy” vs “big guy”?
Maybe the moral of the story really should be that you should be really careful that you know what claims you sign, or those claims may come back to bite you later.

By: Brian 'Psychochild' Green

Brian 'Psychochild' Green — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:53:05 +0000

The patent system for software isn’t working very optimally, unfortunately. As you point out, it’s easy for a larger company to play the bully. In the case of Worlds.com suing NCSoft, I suspect they’re suing NCSoft due to their rather high profile financial problems lately. They figure NCSoft will rather settle for some token amount than settle, and that gives Worlds.com a bit more of a war chest to go after others.
It’s interesting that the patent filer and the lawsuit defendant are the same person in the case you present. Is this a case of someone having their name added to a list unwittingly, or a case of someone getting bit on the rump by what seemed like a good idea at the time?

By: F. Randall Farmer

F. Randall Farmer — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:22:27 +0000

Here’s another rant about patent trolling, focusing on the Worlds.com,Inc. v. NCSoft filing.
Our Legal System Continues To Suffer From Random Drooling
Randy