Domain: exerscape.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to exerscape.com.
Comments · 4
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Re:Patents are not capitalisticI invented some software, and patented it, and I came up with the idea in 1988, about seven years before it was even physically possible to do it with the processors of the day. There was nothing like it, open source or closed, when I thought of it, and before I first wrote it, I was told by an expert in the field that it was impossible. Now it is becoming common, almost ten years after I filed the first patent application. I imagine that in a few more years virtually every new PC shipped will include infringing code. Right now, every PC with WinDVD does.
Is not the patent system meant to benefit people like me, who thought up something before it was possible to do, continued trying to realize it for years, and now, fifteen+ years after first writing down the psuedocode and eight since developing the first working demos and filing the original patents, finally stands to maybe make enough money to pay my bills, both through my own efforts at commercialization and by enforcing my patents?
I own most of a very tiny company with several patents that I'm trying to enforce. At the same time I am working on building more products with the basic technology and trying to make enough money to support myself, my wife and maybe even a child in the not too distant future. Right now I'm studying how to file a patent infringement suit against a company that came up with this idea about three years after I had developed it to the point of having running demos, and they found a $3 million investment with which to create their product. My product was being sold through a $220 million company that almost went bankrupt and closed down the division we were working with. The guys I am going after actually visited my home office a year before they came out with their product, were going to license the patent, and then suddenly told me they did not infringe after they received their investment. I bought their product and reverse-engineered their software and can prove infringement.
So, do you think I should just fold up my tent and renege on the commitment I made to many friends and family that invested in me over the last ten years? As I am being outspent by someone not huge but bigger than me? Or should I just ignore their infringement and try to close a deal with another big company, which I am getting closer to right now? Or should I go after these guys who initially thought they came up with this idea themselves, then realized I was years ahead of them and came to pick my brain, and then reneged on a potential licensing deal? I was and am very willing to license the patents at industry standard rates. And what do I do about Intervideo's WinDVD, which was shipped with similar capabilities five+ years after I filed our first patents? I haven't worked so hard for so long just to live trying to pay the bills month to month, like I am right now....
FYI Links to the patents are on our website, look way down on the bottom right of the front page, here:Exerscape.com. -
Re:Patents are not capitalisticI invented some software, and patented it, and I came up with the idea in 1988, about seven years before it was even physically possible to do it with the processors of the day. There was nothing like it, open source or closed, when I thought of it, and before I first wrote it, I was told by an expert in the field that it was impossible. Now it is becoming common, almost ten years after I filed the first patent application. I imagine that in a few more years virtually every new PC shipped will include infringing code. Right now, every PC with WinDVD does.
Meanwhile, I own most of a very tiny company with several patents that I'm trying to enforce. At the same time I am working on building more products with the basic technology and trying to make enough money to support myself, my wife and maybe even a child in the not too distant future. Right now I'm studying how to file a patent infringement suit against a company that came up with this idea about three years after I had developed it to the point of having running demos, and they found a $3 million investment with which to create their product. My product was being sold through a $220 million company that almost went bankrupt and closed down the division we were working with. The guys I am going after actually visited my home office a year before they came out with their product, were going to license the patent, and then suddenly told me they did not infringe after they received their investment. I bought their product and reverse-engineered their software and can prove infringement.
So, do you think I should just fold up my tent and renege on the commitment I made to many friends and family that invested in me over the last ten years? As I am being outspent by someone not huge but bigger than me? Or should I just ignore their infringement and try to close a deal with another big company, which I am getting closer to right now? Or should I go after these guys who initially thought they came up with this idea themselves, then realized I was years ahead of them and came to pick my brain, and then reneged on a potential licensing deal? I was and am very willing to license the patents at industry standard rates. And what do I do about Intervideo's WinDVD, which was shipped with similar capabilities five+ years after I filed our first patents? I haven't worked so hard for so long just to live trying to pay the bills month to month, like I am right now....
FYI Links to the patents are on our website, look on the bottom right of the front page, here:Exerscape.com.
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Re:A virtual tourist while exercising
My concept is similar, except it uses helmet cam video. I first wrote it down in in 1988, have patented and produced it, and am looking forward to producing more. See exerscape.com for more info. My users say it definitely makes exercise less boring, and an independent study has shown that unfit subjects burned more calories with no increase in percieved effort. We are in the process of securing an NIH grant to port the software engine to the PS2 and enlarge this study.
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Exerscape did this long agoA guy named Bruce Ewert out of Utah made a similar device years ago. In fact it could be the same technology. He had a couple of smart notions including the use of wheel speed and heart rate to determine movie flick rate. Whereby you really do control the trail speed and make the experience more real. He had two problems, it was based on 3DO and it required the user to own: A bike, a big screen tv, a wind-trainer for the bike, and 3DO. At that point if the user bought Ewerts product they would be good to go. That's a tough sell.
He recreated his company and it is progressing nicely apparently. The software is ported to pcs and more and he has strong partnerships and some good patents on the flick rate to wheel speed stuff. Check it out at Exerscape.com