Worlds.com Files Lawsuit over Virtual Worlds Patent
January 2, 2009 by Alex
Filed under Patent Litigation
On New Year’s Eve, World’s.com filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against NCSoft Corp. in an East Texas District Courtroom. Worlds.com will be represented by the General Patent Corporation, which has represented their client since 2002. As stated in a press release on General Patent’s website, the patent in question is titled “System and Method for Enabling Users to Interact in a Virtual Space” and is used in the following NCSoft games: City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Tabula Rasa, Lineage, and Lineage II.
The above patent is owned by Worlds.com, and relates to computer architecture for a three-dimensional graphical multi-user interactive world system. These systems are used in multi-player online games, known as Graphical Multi-Dimension games. They provide a graphical representation of the player’s character where movement of the character in virtual space alters what the character views.
“Worlds.com has been a pioneer in the field of Virtual Worlds since the early nineties,” stated Thom Kidrin, the CEO of Worlds.com. “We are pleased to see that the technology we developed is now widely used by MMO game developers. At the same time, we deserve a fair compensation for the use of our patented technology.”
New Law Firm Seeks to Protect Biotech and Pharmaceutical Patents
A Washington D.C. patent attorney has announced the formation of a new law firm, Nevrivy Patent Law Group P.L.L.C. The founder, Daniel J. Nevrivy, Ph.D., is focusing the firm around biotechnology and pharmaceutical patent law and aiming to help businesses, universities and inventors protect their capital and intellectual property.
The formation of this new law firm comes at a time when the credit crisis and economic downturn are creating large hurdles for innovative companies. “While they recognize that investments in IP can generate a lot of long term value down the road, they must preserve their capital today to stay in business long enough to reap those rewards,” said Dr. Nevrivy.
While companies and inventors must face financial obstacles to the research required for their invention, they are also facing the issue of applying for patents and paying for patent lawyers – both of which are very costly. As Dr. Nevrivy said:
It’s a little tricky for existing law firms to lower their fees and maintain quality because the cost structure is so built in to their way of doing things. However, a new law firm that is small and highly focused can create a cost structure de novo that works. A reduced overhead and a streamlined firm structure also mean that attorneys can provide the highest quality of work more efficiently than larger firms. It’s a win-win situation, for the client and the lawyer.
Dr. Nevrivy holds a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology, and was previously with the firm of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox for seven years. He is building his firm with other lawyer-scientists to serve businesses, universities, and inventors who seek innovative ways to lower their costs for protection.
