4 ms·
Although AltspaceVR's public announcement claims they're shutting down due to lack of funds, I suspect that being sued by a patent troll also contributed to the
by ipsum2 9y ago
Although AltspaceVR's public announcement claims they're shutting down due to lack of funds, I suspect that being sued by a patent troll also contributed to the closure of the company.
See: https://insight.rpxcorp.com/litigation_documents/12511784 https://insight.rpxcorp.com/litigation_documents/12511784 and discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/6q4idg/alt_space_patent_infringement_lawsuit/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/6q4idg/alt_space_pate...
- haydenlee 9y agoAny reason why they wouldn't have mentioned the lawsuit in their press release if it was a big issue for them?
- ipsum2 9y agoMy uninformed guess is that talking about current legal proceedings is frowned upon by their lawyers.
- kevinr 9y ago"Lack of funds to cover ongoing legal fees" is "lack of funds".
- grovegames 9y agoIt is, but it's a far more nuanced version. Lack of funds is more leadership to blame. Getting sued by a patent troll, is what we all hope our side projects avoid long enough to obtain sufficient funding, so we can pay the crooks if need be.
- bhouston 9y agoAll other cases file by this patent troll: https://www.google.ca/search?q=VIRTUAL+IMMERSION+TECHNOLOGIES+LLC https://www.google.ca/search?q=VIRTUAL+IMMERSION+TECHNOLOGIE... Patent in question: https://www.google.com/patents/US6409599 https://www.google.com/patents/US6409599 Here is the original product: https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/1996/12/09/focus2.html https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/1996/12/09/focus...
- catshirt 9y agoin this instance the patent itself bothers me more than the trolling.
- BatFastard 9y agoThese kind of overly broad patents which should have never been granted in the first place are really thing biggest thing killing innovation in the USA. Nothing like giving a few years of your life to a project and having it shut down over a bad patent. On the other hand it was nice to see them using a number of innovations I created in 2005 but didn't patent.
- gfodor 9y ago(Cofounder here) Note that we didn't file any patents, this was no accident.
- BatFastard 9y agoSoftware patents are generally evil, and I used to feel that creating them was bad. Then a mentor taught me that often your patents can be used to offset other peoples patents. But with Trolls they have nothing to protect.