Patent trolls.......is due to these bastards that there arent any flying cars around. Well not really hehe, but lets be honest: these days releasing an innovative product means you can get sued by anyone who had a patent thats somewhat (as in some universe) similar to your product/invention. In this case: Basically, Copper Innovation is saying that the method in which both Sony and Nintendo determine who is player one and two (and so on) is covered by the patent, and it deserves compensation. You can view the patent for yourself, which was filed for in 1994 and issued in 1996. While the device described bears a slight resemblance to the Wiimote, the actionable aspect of the patent seems to be how the host device designates each controller. "Every transmitter unit has a unique hardware encoded identifying number," the patent states. "When power is first applied to the transmitter, for example when batteries are first inserted, the identifying number is read and stored in Random Access Memory (RAM) in the transmitter. All subsequent communications sent from that transmitter will contain that identifier." The device kinda looks like a wiimote, buts thats not the point... All over the world these patent troll companies are growing out of the fact that the increasing complexity of most technological components, coupled with the lack of knowledge on the subject from most members of the law, creates an enviroment where any company can be sued if joe doe has a patent that kinda looks like the company's product. And after immersion's victory against sony ($82 millions) patent trolls have their targets in a new objective: the game industry.
The patent troll is suing the wrong corporation. The wireless technology used in PS3/Wii would be outsourced/licensed from another company as such it's unlikely that this case will succeed.
Indeed, and with small and medium companies such costs could end in red numbers by the end of the year, or bankruptcy if they were already short of cash...
Yeah but they fit in the "evil corporation" description anyway, and well, bleem! business model wasnt that honest, basically becos they were making a direct profit off sony's hardware and games, specially since it could run pirated copies, and thats was a direct hit to sony's main source of income with the PSX. The thing is, most emulators are kept free to avoid these situations, but when you're making a profit out of it you're pretty much asking to get sued.
Indeed. Sony kept taking them to court and kept losing. And Bleem! wound up going bankrupt over the court costs. So sad. They went out of business right before they were about to start selling anti-Sony shirts (my favorite being one that was like: F square X K S circle triangle Y Oh I would have bought that so quickly...
I will take a patent on the wooden stick, and every body who uses the wooden stick. Should pay tribute to me. That is why I am all out for the open source philosphy.
