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Computer Solitaire Patented?
Sadburger writes "Saw this over on GameDev:
'Thomas Warfield of Pretty Good Solitaire is reporting in his most recent blog that: 'My company has received the following letter from a law firm claiming to have a client that has patented computer solitaire. And by extension, all computer card games. I am not kidding.' Patent law strikes again...'
Anyone know a good patent lawyer?" Someone alert the educational sector, since at least half my programming classes involved solitaire, poker, or blackjack.
I didn't know SCO had a games division.
You know, the guy who wrote solitaire for Windows back in the early 90s.
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
Actually, OS/2 shipped with a solitaire game (Yukon) that would play itself, thus saving the users countless hours of time and freeing them up to perform more productive tasks!
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
I used to run Solitaire (Hoyle) on my Tandy 1000 SL/2 with Hard Drive kit. Back in the 80's. And before that, I had Sol on a TRD 80 Model II on the 8" floppy. Talk about prior art, I think there was a version for the VAX.
You can have it fast, accurate, or pretty. Pick any 2.
These are the same thugs that are harassing Star Chamber. I've been thinking about how to combat this problem. Perhaps it's time for a Viral Patent License. Here's how it would work:
A Viral Patent Board would be set up as a charitable foundation, with the stated goal of eliminating the use of software patents.
Companies are either VPL friendly, neutral, or agressive.
All companies start as neutral.
A company remains neutral if they have never fired the first shot, but have not yet given the VPB permission to use their portfolio.
A company is agressive if they have threatened a friendly or neutral company for software patent infringement. IOW, if you ever fire the first shot in a patent battle, you are forever considered agressive.
A company is friendly if they have:
1. Promised in writing to never fire the first shot.
2. Allow their entire software patent portfolio, now and in the future, to be used by the Viral Patent Board to threaten agressive companies. This license is non-exclusive.
3. Require in the licensing terms of all their intellectual property that agressive companies be excluded from licensing. IOW, if you have a patent that Microsoft has licensed to incorporate into MS-Word, then part of your deal with Microsoft must be that MS-Word not be licensable by agressive companies.
4. Agree that beginning in 2009, it's open season on neutral companies as well, and the Viral Patent Board may sue them as they see fit.
The net effect would be that all software would eventually become infected with Viral Patent Board controlled IP, and such software would not be licensable by agressive companies. This means that even if you write no software - you're nothing but a software patent litigator - you must conduct your business without the aid of software of any kind. This might be further extended to the attorneys that work for such companies, so that they could not use software, even at home.
I'm posting as AC because I am in the MMO games business, and own a patent critical to that business that many companies are infringing on. I am willing be the first to hand over my patent to stop this nonsense.