Articles Posted in Patents

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Facebook recently filed a Patent Application that Triggered a Congressional inquiry.  The patent application, which describes technology for tracking users on other websites,
resulted in a letter from Reps. Edward Markey, D- Mass., and Joe Barton,
R-Texas, seeking information on its current privacy practices and future intentions for tracking user activity and data. Markey and Barton co-chair the Congressional Bipartisan Privacy Caucus.

The application
was published on Sept. 22, 2011 and describes a method “for tracking information about the activities of users of a social networking system while on another domain.”

In the letter to facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Markey and Barton sought clarification on the purpose of the patent and how Facebook intends to use it. They also inquired about how Facebook intends to integrate the location data of its users into its targeted advertising system, noting that Facebook has previously stated that it does not track people across the Internet.

It is important to note that just because Facebook has filed a patent does not necessarily mean that they have commercially implemented what the patent discloses. However,  this action is just one of the latest from Washington focusing on privacy. There seems to be a very focused effort by legislators and regulators to ensure that companies only collect user information needed for legitimate business purposes and that the information collected is not retained indefinitely. 

As with many other aspects of social media, the laws and regulatory climate are continuing to evolve.  If you have not recently reviewed your data collection, privacy practices and privacy policies, now is a good time to do so. 

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Pepsi.jpegSocial media took a step into the real world with Pepsi’s announcement of a social vending machine. According to the press release, Pepsi will launch its Social Vending System, a state-of-the-art networked
unit that features full touch screen interactive vending technology, enabling
consumers to better connect with PepsiCo brands right at the point of purchase.
A prototype of the Social Vending System will debut at the National Automatic
Merchandising Association’s One Show in Chicago, April 27-29. According to the release:

Using digital technology, PepsiCo’s Social Vending System enables any user to
gift a friend by selecting a beverage and entering the recipient’s name, mobile
number and a personalized text message. There’s also the option to further
personalize the gift with a short video recorded right at the machine. The gift
is delivered with a system code and instructions to redeem it at any PepsiCo
Social Vending system. When the recipient redeems his or her gift, they’re given
the option of either thanking the original sender with a gift of their own or
paying it forward and gifting a beverage to someone else.

A promotional video is available.

This innovative approach to integrating social media into everyday activities and to devices and appliances is part of a growing trend that is resulting in social media going well beyond just Facebook and other internet sites.

Judging from the patent filings that we monitor in this area, there is much more to come!. Many companies are filing patents for innovative uses of social media integrated into everyday activities and to use of social media for innovative advertising and brand engagement concepts.

 

 

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On March 15, hours after its asserted
patent was issued (U.S. Patent No. 7,908,342), Wireless Ink Corp. filed a
complaint for patent infringement against Facebook, Google, YouTube, and MySpace
in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Case No.
1:11-cv-01751-PKC. Wireless Ink is a mobile content management and social
networking software company that operates Winksite.com.

If this scenario sounds familiar, it’s
because Wireless Ink has a pending lawsuit against Facebook and Google in the
same court, before the same judge, and for
infringement of a related patent (U.S. Patent No. 7,599,983), Case No.
1:10-cv-01841-PKC (filed Mar. 9, 2010). 

In this newest action, Wireless Ink
alleges that each Defendant directly infringes several claims of its ‘342 patent
(titled Method, Apparatus and System for Management of Information Content
for Enhanced Accessibility over Wireless Communication Networks) by, among
other things, (i) providing a user-accessible content management website, (ii)
generating a mobile website that is accessible independently of the content
management website via a mobile device, (iii) where the mobile website is
configured to receive data automatically from external data sources designated
by the user at the content management website, and (iv) where the content
management website permits the user to upload information items and enter
messages which are included in the mobile website.

Wireless Ink also alleges that
Defendants’ infringing activities are willful, and that Defendants have induced
infringement by actively encouraging their users to use their mobile websites,
even after having knowledge of Wireless Ink’s patent rights. As characterized in
the complaint, the Defendants’ alleged infringing activities “involve hundreds
of millions of users and potentially billions of acts of
infringement.”

Interestingly, in exhibits to its
complaint, Wireless Ink points out that all of the known relevant prior art to
the related ‘983 patent produced by
Facebook and Google in the 2010 litigation was disclosed by Wireless Ink to the
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office during prosecution of the application that
issued as the now-asserted ‘342 patent. The ‘342 patent’s application was a
continuation of the ‘983 patent’s application. Whether this has any impact on
the validity of the ‘342 patent remains to be seen. 

This action is currently scheduled to
have its initial pretrial conference on May 9, 2011.

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Gibson Guitar Corp. recently filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee alleging that Seven45 Studios’ video game “Power Gig: Rise of the SixString,” infringes Gibson’s concert simulation patent.  Gibson filed its complaint againgibson.jpgst 745 LLC (d/b/a Seven45 Studios) asserting “Power Gig” violates its U.S. Patent Number 5,990,405, titled “System and method for generating and controlling a simulated musical concert experience.”  The claims center on “Power Gig” and its related components, which includes a guitar-style controller.  Gibson is claiming that the game, in conjunction with a gaming console (Sony’s Playstation 2 and Microsift’s Xbox 360), contains elements that infringed its rights under the ‘405 patent.  In addition to a claim for direct infringement, Gibson alleges contributory patent infringement and inducement of infringement.  Gibson is seeking a preliminarily and permanently injunction, treble damages and attorneys’ fees. 
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OnLive-Logo.jpgOnLive announced that it was awarded a patent that it alleges is a “fundamental cloud gaming patent.” The patent, USP 7,849,491, is entitled “Apparatus and method for wireless video gaming” was filed in 2002 but just issued in December 2010 after an 8 year battle with the Patent Office. According to a company press release:

Cloud gaming is a breakthrough technology where video games run on
remote servers, and users simply connect an Internet-connected device–be it a TV, PC/Mac®, iPad™, Android™ tablet, smartphone–and instantly are
able to play the highest performance, new-release games with no discs,
no downloads and no upgrades. OnLive’s patented and patent-pending
technology makes the games almost instantly responsive, providing a
gaming experience comparable to the games being played locally, even
though they may actually be running on servers 1000 miles away.

As often is the case with seemingly fundamental patents, there has been quite a bit of stir in the press.  Many non-patent attorneys have commented and opined on the patent which has fanned the fires. Not all of the commentary has been factually based.

A review of the file from the Patent Office reveals some interesting facts. The original patent had claims that focused mostly on a set-top box. For example, original claim 1 recited:

1. A set-top box comprising:
a slot with an interface that connects to a game card providing a platform to run a software video game, the game card outputting video game data through the interface; a unit to process the video game data for output to a display device; a wireless transceiver to receive the software video game via a wireless local area network (WLAN).

It also included a method claim as follows.

15. A method of operating a video game box comprising:
inserting a game card into a slot of the video game box;
downloading a software video game via a wireless transceiver;
running the software video game on the game card, video game data being output through an interface of the slot;
processing the video game data for output to a display device.

However, the claims that were granted by the Patent Office were different. For example, claim 1 of the issued patent recites:

1. A method of operating a video game box comprising: downloading a
software video game to a storage device via a wireless transceiver, the
software video game being compliant with a game platform standard; running the software video game on a game card
coupled to the video game box via an interface, the game card including a processor, a memory and a graphics engine, the game card providing a
game platform compliant with the game platform standard, high twitch-action video game data being output
through the interface; processing the high twitch-action video game
data for output to a display device; compressing the high twitch-action video game data with a latency of less than approximately 80 ms, but greater than about 5 ms; wirelessly
transmitting the compressed high twitch-action video game data to a
remote player via the wireless transceiver during interactive play of
the software video game, the remote player being located a distance beyond a transmission distance of the wireless
transceiver.

The patent includes other claims as well, which differ from those for which OnLive originally applied. In order to properly assess the scope of this (or any other) patent it is necessary to analyze the claims that were actually awarded. In many cases, awarded claims are not necessarily as broad as those a company originally pursued. Yet, commentators often overlook this, creating misconceptions about the scope of a given patent.

At least one of OnLive’s competitors says it is not concerned about the patent. Dave Perry, CEO of Gaikai, reportedly says his company isn’t worried about the fallout,
because its service operates in a different way. Both services do game rendering
on the server-side and then stream the images to the client, but Gaikai remains
confident moving forward.

If you have questions about the legal scope of a patent, it is advisable to consult with a knowledgeable patent attorney.

 

 

 

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Motorola Mobility Inc. recently brought an action before the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) against Microsoft Corp. relating to the importation of the Xbox 360 console.  At the center of the controversy is the potential infringement of five patents covering digital video coding and transmission.  The case is In re: Certain Gaming and Entertainment Consoles, Related Software and Components Thereof, case number 337-2770.

Motorola has requested that the ITC institute a Section 337 investigation with allegations that various Microsoft consoles (specifically the 4GB Xbox 360S and 250GB Xbox 360S) infringe U.S. Patent Numbers 5,319,712; 5,357,571; 6,069,896; 6,980,596; and 7,162,094.

Motorola’s ‘712, ‘571 and ‘896 patents describe methods for protecting data streams and securing point-to-point communications in wireless communication and establishing connections between devices in a wireless peer-to-peer network.  The ‘596 and ‘094 patents describe frequency scanning paths for transform-based decoding of digital content as well as digital coding inventions that facilitate higher levels of compression of digital video content.

Motorola is seeking a permanent exclusion order to stop Microsoft from importing the allegedly infringing consoles, as well as an order barring their advertisement and warehousing.

 

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In October, tech media sources, such as CNET, were reporting that Facebook had acquired part of Zenbe’s intellectual property portfolio, in addition to hiring some of Zenbe’s key engineers. While Zenbe will stay intact, Zenbe Mail has been shut down, and the associated intellectual property, has been acquired by Facebook.  

Zenbe is just one in a long list of recent acquisitions by the social networking giant that have focused primarily on the value of intellectual property assets. Some of those acquisitions include: Divvyshot, Hot Potato, NextStop, Drop.io and FriendFeed. This underscores to critical importance of a sound intellectual property strategy that helps protect your product development and is aligned with your overall business goals.

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Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and Valve have been sued for patent infringement over two patents relating to purchasing products relating to games. The suit, filed by Olympic Developments AG, LLC, involves US Patents  5,475, 585 (“Transactional Processing System”) and 6,246,400 (“Device for Controlling Remote Interactive Receiver”). The ‘585 patent was issued way back in 1995 and the 400 patent in 2001.

We will monitor the case. Check back for significant developments.

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Microsoft recently agreed to buy Canesta, which makes gesture control technology. This appears to be part of a roll up strategy by Microsoft having purchased 3DV Systems and licenses from GestureTek and PrimeSense.

A recent article in Venture Beat speculates that Microsoft may be close to having ownership of or license to most of the major patented technology relating to gesture recognition.

Microsoft is leveraging these acquisitions in connection with its Kinect technology, Microsoft’s motion-controlled system for Xbox 360.

The fact that Microsoft is opening its corporate coffers to acquire patent rights is powerful example of the power of patents relating to games and emerging technologies. Yet, we continue to see many companies overlook the value of patents in these areas. Comprehensive patent protection can be both an offensive tool and a defensive weapon and can create significant business value as apparently Canesta, GestureTek and PrimeSense have realized.

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Everglades Interactive, LLC has filed a patent litigation against a number of social game companies for alleged infringement of USP 6,656,050. The patent is entitled “Odds Accelerator for Promotional Type Sweepstakes, Games, and Contests.”

A sample claim of the patent is as follows:

A method enabling at least one player to increase a likelihood of winning at least one of a collect-and-win game and a match-and-win game promotion while simultaneously increasing an appeal of said game to the player and thus making a substantially more valuable system for a promoter, comprising the steps of:
providing at least one game piece to at least one player;
applying said game piece to an appropriate game board at a game site;
making game piece information available to said player, said game piece information indicative of needed game pieces needed to complete a winning combination of game pieces to thereby win said game, whereby the player may share or trade game pieces with at least one other player,
enabling said player and said other player to easily and securely store said game pieces for future use.

The patent is based on a provisional application (2001/0028708) which was filed on August 4, 2000, and a utility application (09/920,940) which was filed on August 3, 2001. Based on our preliminary research, this patent will be heavily attacked for invalidity based on prior art that easily predates this patent. It will also face challenges for failing to constitute patent eligible subject matter under Section 101 under the recently announced test in the Bilski case.

The number of social game-related patent applications and patent lawsuits being file is increasing. Yet, many companies in this space have not focused much on patents. This and other recent activity, such as Zynga‘s attempt to patent aspects of using virtual currency (see our prior blog post), should be catalyst to cause more companies to ensure that they are considering patent protection for their social games offerings and taking steps to minimize liability for infringement of others’ patents.

E-mail us for a free guide on patent and other IP strategies for social games companies.