It's amazing how people can patent such a generic concept like this.

I agree, I'm also amazed at the fact that you really can sue anyone for anything. LOL there suing them because they thought of Xbox Live and Playstation Network. LOL "communicating live while playing the same videogame in separate locations" I find this halarious.

Originally posted by Matt898:

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I agree, I'm also amazed at the fact that you really can sue anyone for anything. LOL there suing them because they thought of Xbox Live and Playstation Network. LOL "communicating live while playing the same videogame in separate locations" I find this halarious.

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Well the world was much different in 1994 and im guessing the patent office didnt really understand the concept and its ramifications.

Quote:

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"communicating live while playing the same videogame in separate locations"

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What I find absolutely BS about the whole thing is how PC's have been doing this for YEARS and yet MS & Sony both have to take the brunt of this frivolous case.

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this makes me want to think of some crazy idea so I can sue another company in the future

This is one of those cases that help fuel the "Abolish patents" movement. While I like the concept of a patent it is way too easy to abuse and, in my opinion, does more harm than good.

this is total BS cause the xbox wsas not out in 1994

Originally posted by dpop28:

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this is total BS cause the xbox wsas not out in 1994

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-------------> 1994 is when it was patented, 2004 is when the infringement suit came about.



Case Update: Hochstein v. Microsoft
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9:34 AM | Posted in Lawsuits, Patents, PlayStation, XBOX

Hochstein et al. v. Microsoft et al.
United States District Court for E.D. Mich.
Case No. 04-cv-73071, Filed August 11, 2004

On June 22, 2009, the day before trial began, the judge in this patent infringement case made a key decision by opting to use the special master’s construction of a disputed claim.

In 1991, Peter Hochstein and Jeffrey Tenenbaum came up with the idea of communicating live while playing the same video game in separate locations. They patented the technology for doing so in 1994. In 2002, Microsoft released Xbox Live, a gaming service that also allows users to communicate while playing the same game. Sony also released similar capabilities for PlayStation 2. In 2004, Hochstein, Tenenbaum and Harold Milton, Jr. (an assignee of the patent) brought a patent infringement suit against Microsoft and Sony alleging that the voice and data communications technology used in the gaming systems infringed on the patent claims. For relief they sought a permanent injunction and treble damages. Sony settled its suit in April 2009, leaving Microsoft as the only remaining defendant.

While U.S. Patent No. RE36,574 is also asserted, the primary patent at issue is U.S. Patent No. 5,292,125, which is for an “apparatus and method for electrically connecting remotely located video games.” See representative claim 1:

Remind me to patent communicating live while playing the same videogame in same location tomorrow i could make a killing sueing Microsoft and Sony even Nintendo mohahaha

Why aren't they sueing nintendo aswell, they're doing the same thing as sony and ms. Btw it is ridiculous that they got anything from sony, but I suppose it is the law.

this is all happening now because they realised the patent will expire this year.. luckily only 15 years on a patent.. shold be the same for copyright really.

They sound like retards who just want money, hope they get half the money they ask for and a good sack tap while their at it.

Matt898, a music label actually sued Fogerty for sounding like himself after he left that label. Smart move on his part! The morons were laughed out of court. At least patents do not go on forever like copyrights. The 50s will never become public domain. The labels will slip the rat-bastard law maklers some money and up the experation by 25 years. I bet you will find 'the artists' do not make money when their work is used in an add for the 50s record deals. It goes straight to the labels.

You can write a song in a night that will be protected forever but a 20 million dollar patent only lasts 17 years in the US. The manufacturers are not as united and not as evil as the music industry.

I agree with you people Xbox/MS should take the brunt of every lawsuit and no one else

Odd. One cannot patent an idea, only the execution of an idea. For example, one cannot patent the post-it note, only the adhesive used (low-adhesive, leaves no residue, and cane be reused). And trademark the name "post-it" insofar as that is possible.

On the face of it, I'm suprised Sony caved - unless patent caselaw differs in court to statute :-)