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Yahoo! Sues Xfire For Patent Infringement 174

Posted by timothy from the patent-as-bully-stick dept.
CheesyPeteza writes "GameSpot is reporting that the popular game messenger client Xfire is being sued by Yahoo for patent infringement. The patent was originally granted to two Yahoo employees who developed GameProwler for Yahoo Messenger. It describes a system which "allows users to use a game server in connection with a messenger server to permit 'buddies' to know when other 'buddies' are playing games online, and easily join such games." One of these employees then left Yahoo to work for Xfire. Xfire denies infringing on Yahoo's patent, but with the costs estimated at $2 million to defend this cas, will the startup company Xfire be able to stand up to the Yahoo giant?"
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Yahoo! Sues Xfire For Patent Infringement More

Yahoo! Sues Xfire For Patent Infringement

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  • Yes (Score:5, Funny)

    by fembots ( 753724 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:43PM (#11591737) Homepage
    We know [slashdot.org]

    • Re:Yes (Score:5, Insightful)

      by RonnyJ ( 651856 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:54PM (#11591829)
      This might be a dupe, but the other article only recieved 23 comments since being posted yesterday, probably since it wasn't posted as a headline on the main page (and I for one didn't see it). To me, it does seem like a topic that should be on the front page.

      At least now, a lot more people will notice it, and offer more opinions/information on the matter than in the previous posting.

      • Re:Yes (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        At least now, a lot more people will notice it, and offer more opinions/information on the matter than in the previous posting.

        There'll be a lot more posts, certainly, but I'm not sure whether 85 "Dupe! Dupe!" posts qualify as "on the matter".

      • Re:Yes (Score:3, Funny)

        by wdr1 ( 31310 ) *
        Right, which is what you get when a dupe is posted, not hundreds of posts pointing out it's a dupe?

        -Bill
    • Alright! Free "this is a dupe" mod points!

    • Thoughts (Score:3, Informative)

      by mixtape5 ( 762922 )
      As an x user of yahoo instant messanger and a current x-fire user, I see no grounds for yahoo to be suing. Surely someone who has a patent on a toothpick cannot sue someone who builds and sells toothpick houses...the houses are a different product all together.

      X-Fire has way more features than Yahoo! messenger and is way more useful for "in game" chat.

      For example, while I am playing Call of Duty Multiplayer and someone talks to me on xfire a small unobtrusive box appears near the bottom of my screen t

  • Steam (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TwistedSquare ( 650445 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:43PM (#11591738) Homepage
    Doesn't Steam do this as well, using its friends list?

    • Re:Steam (Score:3, Interesting)

      by OverlordQ ( 264228 )
      Doubt it, the Friends system could probably be considered an integral part of steam which is also the game client, the patent in question a game and messenger client-server system. So where as Steam does it all in one handy client, the Yahoo patent covers 2 seperate but communicable clients.

      (IANAL)

      • Re:Steam (Score:3, Funny)

        by maxdamage ( 615250 ) *
        Not to mention that xfire actually works..

      • Re:Steam (Score:2, Informative)

        by vettemph ( 540399 )
        Isn't the internet an system by which you can interact with your friends and associates in various connected ways that make this patent kinda redundant anyway. There are no limitations to the way you can link your apps to be relavant to each other in some way or another. For instance, loggin into the game network could send emails to your friends. your friend (had they still used email for communication) would receive an email with a link to launch an application (GameX, Business whiteboardY, shared spreads

        • Isn't a peice of paper something you can draft diagrams for an invention on? OMFG!11 No more patents cause paper itself serves as prior art to all of them.

          That said, this patent is complete bullshit, especially given the date on which it was filed. Insane.

    • so does PlayOnline actually, I can see when people are Playing FF11 or Tetra Master

    • Re:Steam (Score:3, Interesting)

      by cortana ( 588495 )
      1. If Steam Friends actually worked. :)

      2. Anyone done a search to see if Valve have a patent war chest themsevles? I'd be surprised if they didn't have a little something stashed away to deter suits from companies like Yahoo. And to use themselves, against a similar start-up, tring to compete in the FPS/online games industry.

    • Re:Steam (Score:2, Informative)

      by thenetbox ( 809459 )
      I remember when XBOX Live was coming out they had online ads where they showed a person being notified about a friend being in game on MSN messenger and his cellphone.

      I am not a big XBOX live user (though I forgot to unsubscribe from the beta and they charged me again d'oh) but I have not heard about MSN messenger ever getting that feature. Does MSN messenger have a feature like the one I mentioned above?

      If not then did they back off because of this patent?

      As far as I know XBOX live has its own b

      • Re:Steam (Score:3, Insightful)

        by obsid1an ( 665888 )
        As far as I know XBOX live has its own buddy list that allows people to voice chat and join each others games. Does Yahoo want to go after MS too?

        That may be true, but who would you rather sue. Microsoft or Xfire?

        • And if you establish a precedent of being able to defend such a patent, going after a larger company later will be easier (in theory). IANAL, but I do love it.
          • Not only that, but if they allow infringement by one party, they lose the ability to stop anyone else.

            "Why are you suing me? You didn't have a problem when Xfire did it!"
            • Patents, like copyrights and unlike trademarks, allow for selective enforcement, although if you allow wholesale infringment it'd be likely to affect the amount of damages you can claim.

    • You have access to a Friends list, as well as a game locator that matches you up with other players looking for the same kind of game.
    • Doesn't Steam do this as well, using its friends list?

      Wait, isn't that PRIOR ART? Then it would make the patent become void. (I think...)

  • Down with slashdotting... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:45PM (#11591762)
    In a twist on the classic David-and-Goliath formula, Web giant Yahoo! is suing Menlo Park, CA, start-up Xfire for patent infringement. The basis of the complaint, filed last week in US District Court (Northern District of California) and served to Xfire representatives just two days ago, alleges that Xfire is willfully infringing on a patent controlled by Yahoo! Inc.

    The patent, referred to as the '125 patent for the last three numbers of US Patent No. 6,699,125 (see screenshots for select pages from the patent documents), was granted to two then-Yahoo! employees Brian Gottlieb and Chris Kirmse on March 2, 2004. As is typical, ownership of inventions by employees remains with the corporation the employees work for. Such ownership rights are usually sealed in hiring contracts signed by the employee when he or she is first brought on.

    In the case of the '125 patent, Gottlieb and Kirmse were employed by Yahoo! when they developed certain technologies for a game-specific variation on Yahoo!'s popular Yahoo! Messenger. Yahoo! has been the sole assignee--or owner--of the '125 patent since it was granted.

    The complaint describes the Yahoo! Messenger instant message service--in this case, the GameProwler instant messenger application--as one that "allows users to use a game server in connection with a messenger server to permit 'buddies' to know when other 'buddies' are playing games online, and easily join such games."

    Xfire offers a client application that allows gamers to chat with other gamers online. It also serves to help quickly facilitate gameplay on remote servers.

    "Like the Yahoo! invention," the Yahoo! complaint reads, "this capability allows a user to see other users identified as 'friends' or 'buddies' designated on the user's computer in an instant messenger window. Also, like the Yahoo! invention, this product allows a user to see if a 'friend' or 'buddy' is online with her instant messenger program activated and also to see whether that 'friend' or 'buddy' is playing a game online...

    "Defendant has no license or permission from Yahoo! to offer this capability."

    The Xfire client was first made available in beta form last year. Xfire recently promoted the fact that it had reached the 1-million-registered-user threshold.

    Yahoo!'s GameProwler appears to be the application it feels was compromised by the XFire client. Industry sources tell GameSpot that Xfire currently has a patent pending for its service.

    Key to the complaint is Chris Kirmse, now Xfire's vice president of engineering. Yahoo! claims that "after Kirmse joined defendant [Xfire], defendant began to develop, test, and offer instant messenger 'client' software and a messenger server that, when operated with game servers, offers the capabilities of the invention."

    Kirmse joined Xfire in August 2003. He had left the employ of Yahoo! some years earlier, according to sources.

    Neither Yahoo! employees connected with the complaint nor attorneys representing Yahoo! in this matter would comment on the legal proceedings. Mike Cassidy, Xfire CEO, also declined requests for comment by GameSpot.

    As this complaint is just one week old, no "next steps" are certain. Lawyers familiar with patent law have told GameSpot a case like this could cost up to $2 million to defend and take up to two years to fully adjudicate.

    Impact on Xfire, a company founded in 2002 by Dennis "Thresh" Fong, Mike Cassidy, and Max Woon, is unclear. Likely, the company remains focused on customer acquisition over revenue growth--which makes defense of such a complaint problematic.

    Yahoo!, on the other hand, recently reported it had earned $372.5 million on revenues of $1.08 billion for the most recently concluded quarter. Prospects of a drawn-out legal imbroglio, therefore, wouldn't seem to threaten Yahoo!'s well-being. Some industry sources have even speculated the lawsuit suggests a possible first step toward overtures by Yahoo! to buy out the gaming start-up.

    How will David fare against Goliath in this case? GameSpot will keep you posted.

  • Instead of dupes... (Score:5, Funny)

    by thryllkill ( 52874 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:45PM (#11591763) Homepage Journal
    how about you guys just reference your own articles and call them recursive?

  • In related news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by yotto ( 590067 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:45PM (#11591765) Homepage
    ...Slashdot sues itself for post-infringement.

  • Gamespy is guilty too (Score:5, Insightful)

    by X0563511 ( 793323 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:46PM (#11591767) Homepage Journal
    Well, then Gamespy is guilty. Buddy Tracker and Chat system. Integrated (if you are subscribed)

    So is Steam. Buddy system and Chat system. (integrated)

    So are half-a-dozen other serverbrowsers that have a buddy list.

    What a stupid patent! This is why patents should not be allowed to exist in software.

    • Re:Gamespy is guilty too (Score:4, Interesting)

      by BrookHarty ( 9119 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @05:05PM (#11591896) Journal
      Gamespy has more money for lawyers, so Yahoo wont sue them until they have a small legal victory to help fight gamespy.

      They wont win, and hopefully xfire can sue yahoo for legal expenses.
    • What a stupid patent! This is why patents should not be allowed to exist in software.

      I agree with your first statement.

      As for the second: By the same token, no one should be driving, owning a gun, or drinking alcohol. And half (give or take 0.5%) of America shouldn't be allowed to vote in presidential elections.

      Keep in mind that here at Slashdot, you're only likely to hear about the bad patents. That's like formulating an opinion on the safety of driving by reading the police blotter.

      - David Stein

      • Keep in mind that here at Slashdot, you're only likely to hear about the bad patents.

        That's very true. Please share with us your knowledge of all the good patents from which society benefits.

        • Please share with us your knowledge of all the good patents from which society benefits.

          Ever heard of the MP3 audio compression format?

          • Ever heard of the MP3 audio compression format?

            Isn't that the audio format patented by Fraunhofer, which delayed the adoption of compressed music due to patent license fees which many companies couldn't afford?

            I speculate that Ogg Vorbis would have been much more popular, and highly adopted, had it come out much earlier.

            • Isn't that the audio format patented by Fraunhofer, which delayed the adoption of compressed music due to patent license fees which many companies couldn't afford?

              Yes, but don't change the subject too quickly. You asked if society benefited from it, and I'd like your evaluation. Yes, it could've been better (people could invent cool stuff for free), but did society benefit or not from MP3?

              Now moving on to your next concern, if it was so delayed, then why the hell didn't an unencumbered format beat it to

              • You're conveniently ignoring the fact that a large portion of MP3s success was due to the widespread ignorance/ignoring of Fraunhofers patent rights. GIF is exactly the same story. MP3 was sucessful, but it succeeded in spite of it's patent burden, not because of them.
                • You're conveniently ignoring the fact that a large portion of MP3s success was due to the widespread ignorance/ignoring of Fraunhofers patent rights. GIF is exactly the same story. MP3 was sucessful, but it succeeded in spite of it's patent burden, not because of them.

                  I'm not ignoring anything. I'm saying that MP3 may not have existed (or would be much delayed) without Fraunhofer knowing that it can make some money back.

                  If you are fundamentally opposed to software patents, then what you have to prove is

                  • I think it's self evident that something besides MP3 would have been developed - likely not MP3 in it's exact form, of course. But you aren't proving the counter example, either - MP3 succeeded in spite of patent protection. Where's something that benefits society that succeeded because of the patent system?

                    You can go in all kinds of circles playing what if. I think that looking at the actual facts of what gets produced and who produces it is telling, though. The people who most directly create new softwar

                    • Where's something that benefits society that succeeded because of the patent system?

                      Are you asking for an invention that would be impossible without patents? How do you imagine anybody can prove that?

                      The patent system is a part of a system of incentives to invent. Other incentives include fame, indirect fortune, personal feelings of accomplishment, perhaps even religious satisfaction. It is unreasonable to require that patents be the sole enabler. The question is whether the system of incentives is bett

                  • I'm saying that MP3 may not have existed (or would be much delayed) without Fraunhofer knowing that it can make some money back.

                    You're correct, theoretically. However, many companies patents ideas which arose as a consequence of another business directive, not the primary cause.

                    For example, IBM has a patent on the method by which a "fat" line can be drawn on a computer by taking a "thin" line and widening it. I seriously doubt IBM saw a business opportunity for fat lines, and thus spent R&D resourc

                    • What you're missing is that patents enable a class of inventors who do not wish to be entrepreneurs. IBM and Amazon want to build and sell products, so patents are incidental to that purpose, as are administrative overhead and marketing. A private research institute, for instance, may not want to deal with all that.

                      The question then, is how we can preserve this class of inventors without forcing them to become entrepreneurs? We need to answer this question before throwing out patents wholesale.

    • Battle.net has "friends" capabilities. In WarIII this equals a buddy list on the right sidebar as well.

      If you don't count the fact that a visible "list" was a more recent event, buddies for gaming contacts have been available since the early battle.net days:

      /f add phorm
      /f list
    • What a stupid patent! This is why patents should not be allowed to exist in software.

      No, this is why patent examiners for software patents should be required to have a certain amount of knowledge of the current state of the art in the field...

  • I'm gonna say what I said last time. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:46PM (#11591770)
    This, for once, seems like one of those rare cases where a boycott could work. Nobody's actually going to boycott Microsoft or the RIAA, and each of those has so many customers even if a bunch did leave they wouldn't care. Yahoo can't afford to have its customers leaving quite so much, and it might well be possible to talk people into dropping their use of yahoo based on displeasure with a decision to compete in the courts rather than the marketplace-- after all, it isn't like anyone will *really* miss Literati.

    What do you think?

  • Shove this patent up your @#$ (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:48PM (#11591792)
    allows users to use a game server in connection with a messenger server to permit 'buddies' to know when other 'buddies' are playing games online, and easily join such games

    Oh you mean, kind of like when you join IRC and you say "hey John, you're there? how about we go on Playsite for a nice game of gin eh?"

    I was doing that (or some version of that, before Playsite was around) for at least a decade. Which leads to the following questions:

    Does is look like prior art or what?

    Since I'm not particularly bright for having "invented" that method, and everybody and their dogs has been doing it forever because it's freaking obvious, does this patent look like yet another something-that-I-may-sue-someone-over-in-the-futur e patent application?

    Shouldn't they replace the monkeys at the USPTO by humans at some point?

    • Re:Shove this patent up your @#$ (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Oh you mean, kind of like when you join IRC and you say "hey John, you're there? how about we go on Playsite for a nice game of gin eh?"

      Yes yes yes, but is John your friend, some IRC dude you kind of know, or a true buddy? cuz you know, the wording is important in a patent...
    • I haven't RTFA, but i believe it would be more like, you going on to irc, and seeing that a buddy's away says "Playing ".

      With YIM, next to a person's name, it will tell you what game they are playing (if any) on games.yahoo.com.
    • Shouldn't they replace the monkeys at the USPTO by humans at some point?

      Maybe they should replace the humans with monkeys.
    • Had you written an xchat/mirc/etc plugin to auto-launch "gin" on playsite and join the game with john, then yes, it would be!

      However, didn't gamespy (the original, non-sucky one) do this with ICQ LONG ago? I would launch a game in gamespy, and it would auto-set my ICQ status to "away" with a message of "playing quake2 on 239.483.25.23:33433, click __HERE__ if you have gamespy".

      It would make a gamespy:// link, and if you clicked on it and had gamespy installed it would launch the correct game and auto-joi
    • Does is look like prior art or what?

      Yes it does. Determining whether or not it actually is would require looking at the complete prosecution history, which is the very first thing Xfire's lawyers will do. It is possible that "message" in the claim language refers specifically to a particular message structure as disclosed in the patent, or it could be that "messenger clients" refers specifically to software with a couple of required features. One could look for hints of this in the disclosure, but coul

    • Is this prior art:

      BattleBuddy [starcraftsector.com]

  • Yahoo! just took over the All-Seeing Eye (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Well, they acquired it in September, but they just recently made it into spyware and adware (even for registered users - until they stirred up a shitstorm in the process).

    How did Yahoo! get so much money, anyway? WTF do they do? What have they ever done, or made? I think there's an untold story as it relates to Yahoo!'s rise to success, and I strongly suspect it has to do with an intimate relationship with spammers.

  • A short, one act play: (Score:5, Funny)

    by RyoShin ( 610051 ) <<tukaro> <at> <gmail.com>> on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:51PM (#11591809) Homepage Journal
    Person A: You know what this article is?
    Person B: Repeat.
    A: You know what this article is?
    B: Repeat.
    A: You know what this article is?
    B: ...Repeat.
    A: You know what this article is?
    B: You know who is in the bathroom?
    A: No, Who is on first.
    [person B stabs person A]

    CURTAIN LOWERS
    ~FIN~

  • coincidence? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Lord_Dweomer ( 648696 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:51PM (#11591812) Homepage
    What I find funny is how the original story posted yesterday is from the "what-a-coincidence" department. Now there's irony for you.

  • Dont you think the wording of the patent is a little vauge? I mean bnet, steam and gamespy arcade all have features where your friends,buddies, whatever know when your playing and where. Sounds like a case of trying to get back at a former employee to me. Now that i think about it, doesnt the new aim client have games?

  • The online chess servers did this in the 80s (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 06, 2005 @04:55PM (#11591834)
    They still do. People with accounts at FICS [freechess.org] or ICC [chessclub.com] and you can choose to be notified when a buddy signs on.

    I'd call that prior art.
  • ..In other news, 'Postwhore Dupe' sues newr00tic for infringing on his freedom of speech..

    --newr00tic pointed out, that Mr. Postwhore abused his position of power, so as to put personas with certain speech -impediments, (i.e. "stutterers") in a bad light.

    In the court proceedings that followed this incident, Postwhore tried to get the panel of jurors off-track, by starting an "Linux rox; *doze suxx0rz!! *omfg* *rofl* *rofl*" -flamewar; to no avail..

    (ed.note: Dupe was ACTUALLY seen 'rolling on the floor, -

  • Slashdot should license this patent (Score:5, Funny)

    by Geoffreyerffoeg ( 729040 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @05:05PM (#11591899)
    permit 'buddies' to know when other 'buddies' are playing games online

    Is there anything to permit 'editors' to know when other 'editors' are posting articles online?
  • this patent stuff is going too far.. hopefully they'll mean nothing in europe
    • Wouldn't be so sure about that. M$ openly bought the Irish contingent and most of the rest of the (undemocratic) Council/Commission are in the pockets of MegaCorp PLC/Inc./GmbH. Poland is growing weary of the fight, the Dutch are ignoring their parliament's wishes. The Brits are already assuming the battle is lost (for the small guy) because the UKPTO is requiring definitions of discredited phrases (which shouldn't be there) from the EU directive.

      Appalling behaviour by politicians (as usual).
  • When you see a duped story, immediately go and submit it again! Maybe they'll actually listen to our complaining, if we send it in that way. En masse.

    If the editors won't Slashdot, Slashdot the editors....
  • From the article, it looks like there are two problems:

    1)Kirmese, one of the Xfire's management, worked for Yahoo and came up with the patent in question while in Yahoo's employment.

    2)Whether the implementation of connecting gamers through messenger programs under patent 6,699,125 is really enforceable.

    Yahoo is concerned about a former employee using an implementation of connecting gamers together through a messenging service. Somehow, I suspect the patent itself might fall within prior art. The patent w
    • An additional note:
      I think that replies to both articles posted here and in the previous reference seem to miss the nuances when invoking prior art.

      For instance, one had mentioned a "Play Quake" option in ICQ around 1996. Several talk about Battle.net. I'm not certain both are implementations of the Yahoo patent.

      Look closely at the patent flow chat (Go to Gamespot article, "view slideshow", second image - press next).

      One person starts a game, sends a message using an instant messenger program to an invit
    • Yahoo!'s GameProwler appears to be the application it feels was compromised by the XFire client. Industry sources tell GameSpot that Xfire currently has a patent pending for its service.
      Sounds like an infectious deadly corporate culture. Nuke from orbit.
  • How do you go about patenting notification? Am I to assume thet it's based on a specific way of doing this on the low end of the OSI model or something?

  • Defensive patenting (Score:4, Insightful)

    by gcaseye6677 ( 694805 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @05:16PM (#11591953)
    Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks big companies will only use patents "defensively". I guess defending the company from competition is part of defensive patent strategy.
  • All seeing eye has had this functionallity for YEARS, or at least as long as i've been using it.

    Anyone find it strange that Yahoo just brought ASE?

    Plus, most INGAME clients have this as well, at least, and steam....
    Im sure theres many more, but i dont see the point in listing them.
  • No.

    Next question, please?
  • Where is this world coming to?

    Is someone going to invent patents such as "the ability to take food and put it into your mouth" and companies could sue everybody?
  • could this be linked to yahoo's recent aquisition of The All Seeing Eye?, which is the best game server browser atm...

  • Sue the USPTO (Score:5, Interesting)

    by popo ( 107611 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @05:38PM (#11592094) Homepage

    Has anyone considered a lawsuit against the USPTO for issuing frivolous patents, hence necessitating enormous legal costs for the patent "infringers"?

    It seems to me that the answer to all of these nightmare software patent cases stem from a single root-cause: The USPTO and its eager use of the "Patent Approved" stamp.

    Furthermore, the USPTO has many internal processes which incentivize approval of patents. This culture of easy patenting costs small businesses and consumers billions -- and reduces natural competition.

    Has anyone ever sued or thought of suing the USPTO?

    • Actually, Bush talked about reducing frivolous lawsuits in his state of the union address.

      Granted, it's mainly to prevent abusive class-action suits, but nonetheless it's a good start in reforming the legal system. They definitely acknowledge there's a problem.
      • Actually, Bush talked about reducing frivolous lawsuits in his state of the union address.

        That can't be! We hate Bush here at Slashdot! He can't do anything right. It's not fair!

    • ...starting with the fucktard who approved this [uspto.gov] patent, and following up with the cunt who approved this [uspto.gov] one.
    • Or how about patenting a process where you make a stupid patent on an already existing idea (or a similar idea) and sue everyone who uses such an idea to make money.

      Then you could turn around and sue anyone who sues someone using a dumb patent they aquired.

      I know its recursive, but the idea is just as good as the one Yahoo and company have embarked on.

    • Re:Sue the USPTO (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Sunday February 06, 2005 @08:18PM (#11592959)
      Has anyone considered a lawsuit against the USPTO for issuing frivolous patents, hence necessitating enormous legal costs for the patent "infringers"?

      I've been saying this here quite a lot, as I don't see the fairness of the monkeys at the PTO creating a mess that someone else has to pay to clean up (or simply "pay for").

      I wish a group of companies that were shutdown, sued out of existence, or whatever would sue the patent office after patents to were used to shut these companies down was proved invalid.

      Then the PTO might finally realize software patents are going to be a liability to the PTO.

      But there is only stumbling block: apparently there's an idiotic law that says you can't sue the goverment without the government's approval (as if the government 'could do not wrong!'), so we're left with the monkeys stamping everything that comes across their desks.

      Maybe I should pay my taxes with bananas this year....

  • Sad thing is Yahoo's own gaming buddy system doesn't support anything other than their own Yahoo! games. As a user of Xfire I think it is really awesome, they even allow ingame chat without minimizing and other innovative features. Btw my patent gives me the right to adding comments to articles, expect to hear from my lawyer.
  • Has the capacity to put two buddies in a game of mshearts, why not sue aol? Oh, right, because aim had it before these clowns...
  • Open the engine but maintain a license on it.

    Duh... ;)

    IF you're not copying them then your source will show that. If you are... then you teh sux.

    Tom
    • IF you're not copying them then your source will show that.

      And even if you're not copying from them, you may still be violating their patent.

      To infringe a patent you do not have to copy anything. It can be completely your own invention, without ever having heard of the other research.
      • You know what I mean... If the algorithms in your code shown are not covered by the patents than bobs your uncle.

        Tom
        • If the algorithms in your code shown are not covered by the patents than bobs your uncle.

          Right, but there's no need to see the code to tell if it's infringing the patent or not. For many software patents, including this one, an observation of external behavior is all that's required to verify infringement.

          That's because the patent actually covers WHAT is done, and not only HOW. Theoretically, patents shouldn't be allowed to apply that broadly, but today, they do.
          • "Theoretically, patents shouldn't be allowed to apply that broadly, but today, they do."

            How true. The concept of patents isn't entirely bad. It's just that people chose to abuse it severely.

            It's like the "take a penny" trays [at least those exist in North america...]. A sound business solution would be to have your traveling employees loot them. You can probably bring in upto $20 a year of free cash money. The take a penny tray is a good idea even though it can be abused.

            What I love the most are "de
  • I don understand why legal cases cost so much in the US. Who much does an attorney make for year? How many attorneys are needed for a trial like this?
    Doesn't you have the right for a free (paid by gov') layer in the US?
    If you know you are right, what would be the problem with litigation, since the looser pays expenses?
  • Didn't GameRanger [gameranger.com] exist before that?

    <rant>F@#$@ idiots at the PTO!</rant>

  • A poster above mentioned IRC, but that doesn't specify a game server like in the patent. But surely something in the MUD/MOO genre would cover it, a MUD server interacting with an IRC server?

    Also I do not see any reason why this must be about games. Any similar system even not meant for gaming could shoot down the patent. For example I am thinking about the huge text-based world that was online networking before the advent of Mosaic, in particular services provided by large companies on Prime mainframe

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