`Going To Sue Second Life And World
`Of Warcraft
`
`ERIC KRANGEL
`MAR. 11, 2009, 1:36 PM
`
`Worlds.com CEO Thom Kidrin is putting the entire
`virtual worlds industry on notice: His company
`claims the idea of a scalable virtual world with
`thousands of users is its patented intellectual
`property, and Thom told us he intends to sue
`anyone who refuses to enter into licensing
`negotiations including giants such as Second Life
`and World of Warcraft, a property of Activision
`Blizzard (ATVI).
`
`Already, Korean gaming firm NCSoft, maker of City
`of Heroes and Guild Wars, has been sued by
`Worlds. (In East Texas no less, a jurisdiction
`infamous in intellectual property circles for
`plaintifffriendly rulings in patent cases.)
`
`Thom told us if he succeeds in his litigation, he
`"absolutely" intends to pursue followup suits
`against industry leaders Second Life and WoW.
`
`ATVI Aug 10 17:00
`28.82
`
`Change
`+0.04
`
`% Change
`+0.12%
`
`Last December, when hithertounknown Worlds.com claimed to hold a patent for the virtual
`worlds idea dating from the 1990s, we were highly skeptical. Whatever one thinks of Second
`Life, there's no doubt that service was the brainchild of Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale, who
`pitched the idea around Silicon Valley for years before gaining VC funding to make it happen.
`
`But Worlds.com'sm filled us in on his backstory: Back in 1997, a developer created the Steven
`Spielbergbacked Starbright World, part of the Starlight Starbright Foundation's work with
`seriously ill children. Even in the fledgling virtual worlds industry, very few people heard of
`Starbright World because its creators shunned publicity, seeing their product as a private
`wonderland for sick kids.
`
`8/10/2015
`
`Worlds.com CEO: We're 'Absolutely' Going To Sue Second Life And World Of Warcraft Business Insider
`
`http://www.businessinsider.com/worldscomceowereabsolutelygoingtosuesecondlifeandworldofwarcraft20093
`
`1/2
`
`BUNGIE - EXHIBIT 1034
`
`
`
`Eventually a collection of Starbright patents, which don't cover virtual worlds per se but an
`architecture for enabling thousands of simultaneous users in a 3D virtual space, passed from the
`original creators to the current Worlds.com management. Lawyers from General Patent
`Corporation encouraged the Worlds.com team to aggressively pursue licensing deals.
`
`Thom insists he's not out to put anyone out of business, he just wants to be paid licensing fees
`for what he considers his lawful intellectual property. But we can't imagine the potential targets
`of any patent infringement action will interpret the demand for licensing fees as anything less
`than a legal shakedown.
`
`We consulted legal experts like Virtual Law author Ben Duranske about the case, and
`Worlds.com may have a tough time in court based on a wealth of "prior art" available to any
`patent defense.
`
`But we'll keep a close eye on this one as it progresses through the courts. Whenever issues of
`who owns a technology and how much it's worth are decided by judges and juries, the results are
`always unpredictable.
`
`More: Online Gaming Second Life VirtualWorld Advertising
`Big Tech Steven Spielberg
`
`8/10/2015
`
`Worlds.com CEO: We're 'Absolutely' Going To Sue Second Life And World Of Warcraft Business Insider
`
`http://www.businessinsider.com/worldscomceowereabsolutelygoingtosuesecondlifeandworldofwarcraft20093
`
`2/2
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