Patents

Id Software co-founder John Carmack has admitted that the planned release of the Doom 3 source code will be delayed amid fears of a patent violation. Earlier this month Carmack said the source code was "packaged and tested" and would be released once it had been cleared by the developer's legal team. That was taken as a sign that its release was imminent. More >

A new Sony patent reveals that the company is investigating the potential of biometric controls. The patent filing, spotted by Siliconera, covers a device which measures galvanic skin resistance, electrocardio data, and electromuscular data - sweat, heart rate, and muscle movements - with technical drawings showing a Dualshock, Move controller, and a Vita-like handheld. More >

Microsoft's unique take on the slider smartphone comes from a USPTO filing which covers a "mobile communication device having multiple, interchangable second devices." More >

The Facebook gaming king was sued for patent violation by Segan LLC earlier this month, and now Bloomberg reports that Zynga is the subject of further litigation. The complainant this time is Agincourt Gaming, alleging that Zynga is in violation of patents covering "credit-based online gaming and a prize redemption system based on the outcome of gameplay." Bill Carmody, senior partner at Agincourt's lawyers Susman Godfrey, said: "Agincourt's patents cover the most lucrative aspects of online social gaming - including those comprising the bulk of Zynga's revenues - as they contain the crucial 'link' that allows for global, interactive prize redemption over the internet." Agincourt seeks unspecified damages and an injunction; looks like Zynga has another battle on its hands.

Gamespot reports that the patent application, which was published last week, covers a singleplayer game in which the player's actions in the game world affect the world of another player, without the two needing to interact. It notes: "Those who want to play games that are more dynamic, not based on AI and not pre-scripted like multiplayer games, however, don't want to 'deal' with people, [and] appreciate the privacy it provides." One example given was a player stumbling across a pile of materials, and building a house; when another player reaches the same spot in his world, he finds only the finished house. The application, which was filed in 2010, also reveals that Nintendo's original plan for Wii U may have been quite different, suggesting the idea be implemented on "a home videogame system such as the Nintendo Wii 3D videogame system, a Nintendo DS or other 3D-capable interactive computer graphics display systems."

A poster on gaming forum NeoGaf spotted a filing at the US Patent And Trademark Office, submitted in February but only published last week, which reveals new details about the Wii U's tablet controller. Like the Wii remote, it has a microphone, speaker, and built-in flash memory, and also sports an IR port and magnetometer, which is also found in PlayStation Move and is used for calibration.

The two firms have been filing patent infringement claims against each other since December last year, one of which resulted in European customs officers being ordered to seize incoming shipments of PS3 consoles. The matter has now been resolved, with an LG spokesperson telling Reuters: "LG and Sony recently agreed to drop patent infringement lawsuits against each other." As part of the agreement, LG says it has signed a cross-licensing deal with Sony.

The social gaming titan was sued for copyright infringement last month, and is now facing allegations of patent litigation from Segan LLC. The patent in question is titled "System for viewing content over a network and method therefor," and covers "a system and method for viewing content over the Internet wherein a user accesses a service provider server to view a character icon provided by the service provider to a user interface device." Segan claims that Zynga's FarmVille and Mafia Wars are in violation of its patent, and seeks "a reasonable royalty to compensate" it for "injury and monetary damages".

The US firm whose legal action against mobile developers prompted the intervention of Apple has widened the scope of its lawsuit over infringement of patents covering in-app purchasing. While one developer - Vietnamese studio Wulven Games - has been dropped from the lawsuit, five more, far-higher profile companies have been added. Rovio is named for Angry Birds, Electronic Arts for The Sims 3, Atari for Atari's Greatest Hits, Square Enix for Big Hit Baseball, and Take-Two for NHL 2K11. Lodsys is clearly not intimidated by big companies: it is also suing the likes of HP, Adidas and The New York Times.

Patent Arcade reports that Ohio firm Impulse Technology has brought action against Microsoft, alleging that Xbox 360 motion sensor Kinect is in violation of seven of its patents. Six of those cover a "system and method for tracking and assessing movement skills in multidimensional space," with the other describing an "education system challenging a subject's physiologic and kinesthetic systems to surgistically enhance cognitive function." Impulse claims it informed Microsoft in advance of the filing that its patents cover "a wide variety of games where the movement of a player is tracked in three dimensions ... and certain exercise games where the motion of the player is tracked to effect movement of a virtual avatar, and the exertion of the user is monitored, including where the tracking of the player is done by use of a camera." EA, Sega and Konami have also been named in the suit, with Impulse seeking damages, costs, interest and a permanent injunction.

Tomita Technologies, a Japanese technology company founded by a former Sony engineer, has begun legal proceedings against Nintendo. The suit claims 3DS is in violation of US patent number 7,417,664, which covers "technology relating to displaying stereoscopic images on screen for viewing with the naked eye, i.e. without utilising glasses or other devices."