Worlds Inc. Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Linden Lab's "Second Life"

[Jaiya Cloud]

This article came across my Google feed last night and it's the most spiteful thing I have seen a company do in a long time. You waited 16 years a claim infringement? This burns my biscuits.

Edited September 24, 2019 by Lindsay Dover

[Cinos Field]

Worlds Inc. is a patent troll company. They've unsuccessfully sued Bungie, Blizzard, and a variety of others for that same supposed violation. The goal seems to be settlements, but usually they just lose.

Edited September 24, 2019 by Cinos Field

[Selene Gregoire]

2 hours ago, Cinos Field said:

Worlds Inc. is a patent troll company. They've unsuccessfully sued Bungie, Blizzard, and a variety of others for that same supposed violation. The goal seems to be settlements, but usually they just lose.

It's also ancient news. Or is this yet another suit they have filed against LL?

Same lawsuit apparently 

https://www.accesswire.com/560643/Worlds-Inc-Files-Patent-Infringement-Lawsuit-Against-Linden-Labs-Second-Life

 

They're trying to drum up support because they rarely win any of the suits they file. This one will fail just like the last one they filed against LL.

[Ceka Cianci]

WHO?

[Selene Gregoire]

44 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

WHO?

I had the same reaction a little while back when I first 'heard' about this. Then after doing a little research I almost busted a gut laughing. Now it's more like, "Oh, those guys. Again. Meh." then I wander off in pursuit of more interesting things.

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

4 hours ago, Cinos Field said:

Worlds Inc. is a patent troll company. They've unsuccessfully sued Bungie, Blizzard, and a variety of others for that same supposed violation. The goal seems to be settlements, but usually they just lose.

I've seen many patent trolls out there. Most go nowhere and I expect theirs against LL to fail faster then someone building a rocket out of a solid block of ice and expect it to fly.

[Whirly Fizzle]

More info on Inara's blog: https://modemworld.me/2019/09/24/ip-infringement-complaint-directed-at-linden-lab/

[Maitimo]

Snow Crash was published in 1992, pre-dating World's patent date by 4 years. 

Virtual worlds are not a unique concept.

[Alyona Su]

1 hour ago, Matty Luminos said:

Snow Crash was published in 1992, pre-dating World's patent date by 4 years. 

Virtual worlds are not a unique concept.

That's a book, you cannot patent a concept on its own merits, you must demonstrate how it will work. The novel is a fictional story and likely does not actually describe the machinations of how it all functioned. 

[Selene Gregoire]

Active Worlds was opened to the public in 1995, same year as Worlds. So why not go after AW? Because AW is small potatoes compared to LL. Kidrin is after the money, not any kind of justice. Likely because Worlds' bottom line is shrinking and Kidrin believes he can keep his company afloat with frivolous lawsuits that are just going to end up putting the company deep in debt.

Worlds has been threatening to do this since 2012.

https://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2012/03/worlds-inc-promises-to-go-after-patent-infringers/

[Lyssa Greymoon]

After they finish with LL, they can go after Compuserv and GEnie too.

[ChinRey]

2 hours ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Active Worlds was opened to the public in 1995, same year as Worlds. So why not go after AW? Because AW is small potatoes compared to LL.

The fact that Active Worlds was created by Worlds Inc. may also have something to do with it.

There might be a lesson to us all here btw: If you are developing two similar products for a brand new market in parallel, don't sell the best one to a prospective competitor before it's launched.

[Selene Gregoire]

47 minutes ago, ChinRey said:

The fact that Active Worlds was created by Worlds Inc. may also have something to do with it.

There might be a lesson to us all here btw: If you are developing two similar products for a brand new market in parallel, don't sell the best one to a prospective competitor before it's launched.

That is true however Britvich hasn't owned AW for quite a few years now. That would be Richard Noll, aka Enzo.

[Bree Giffen]

Someone resurrect this thread five or six years from now when this is resolved.

[ChinRey]

On 9/24/2019 at 4:00 PM, Cinos Field said:

Worlds Inc. is a patent troll company.

That's not fair to say. Worlds Inc. invented virtual worlds and 3D chatrooms and there's good reason to ask if something like SL could even have existed if it wasn't for the pioneering work they did.

That doesn't necessarily mean their lawsuit holds water of course; as Alyona mentioned, you can't really patent a concept. But even so, let's show them the respect they deserve.

[cheesecurd]

28 minutes ago, ChinRey said:

That's not fair to say. Worlds Inc. invented virtual worlds and 3D chatrooms and there's good reason to ask if something like SL could even have existed if it wasn't for the pioneering work they did.

That doesn't necessarily mean their lawsuit holds water of course; as Alyona mentioned, you can't really patent a concept. But even so, let's show them the respect they deserve.

They weren't the first. Lucasarts put out Habitat for the C64 in 1987. The first real multiplayer virtual world game. Complete with custom avatars, places to go, and chat with other people.

We should inspire lucasarts, or whoever owns them now, EA and Disney I think, to sue Worlds Inc for theft of their original concept.

[Sassy Kenin]

Reminds me of Apple's crazy lawsuits.