Yet another example of patents run amuck, a company called KA developed a 3D chat client in 1994 called Worlds Chat. In fact, I remember looking at the program, but decided it wouldn’t be an effective tool for communication, and started using The Palace instead (which was only slightly more efficient).
The kicker is that KA (later becoming Worlds.com) began actively pursuing their patent on 3D chat, which included things like server-side records of avatar locations, etc. Now, the company is after the makers of Everquest, Asheron’s Call, and other gaming big-wigs.
I checked out the patent online and all I saw was very general, abstract information. If this is the kind of crap that the patent office licenses, then I reissue my statement that we need patent reform, and we need it fast.
Comments on this entry are closed.