Misc – Page 2 – Patent Arcade

Jun

2015

A little Kickstarter love… BEARD (the game)

I sometimes meet with indie/startup game developers and provide guidance and advice based on my own experiences in the industry and having worked with lots of young companies. I recently met two of the developers of Beard: Life Grows On, and wanted to share their story.

Beard is a 2D RogueLike experience with a focus on exploration and discovery. You are one of a few brave enough to attempt the ascent. Climb through grassy forests, treacherous mountains, frigid icelands, and even glorious skies on your journey to reach the Top and become the King. The game features

Tight Platforming Controls
Unique enemy behavior and bosses
Permanent death
Fine-tuned random level generation
Dozens of unique and fun items
3+ regions with their own environments and terrain generation
Painted 2D art, with sweeping parallaxed backgrounds
Interesting world with a cryptic history
Originally composed soundtrack
Self-trimmed beard appearance (bows, braids, colors, etc.)
Dynamic quests featuring NPCs and their landmarks
Secrets, so many secrets…

I played the the development version, and its a fun concept. They have a lot of work ahead, so I wanted to throw a shout out there way. They are currently raising funds on Kickstarter, and could use your support (yes, I am a backer of theirs on Kickstarter, too).

Here’s a teaser for pique your interest:

Mar

2015

Job Posting: Research Intern 2015

Each year we take on a Research Intern to help with ongoing case research, updating our patent database, refreshing content, and anything else that comes along. If you’re interested, please send a cover letter, resume, transcripts, and writing sample to me at my work email address. Qualified candidates possess the following qualities:

Enrolled in an ABA accredited law school
Keen interest in video games
Interested to learn more about Intellectual Property law (patents, copyrights, trademarks…)
Does NOT have a technical background. For reasons I won’t go into here, I am unable to consider candidates who are eligible to take the patent bar. This is a bright line rule. No exceptions. If you are patent eligible and are interested in a Summer Associate position, however, send your materials to dcjobs at my work’s email domain. We are still considering candidates in DC.
Preference will be given to candidates in the DC area. However, we have taken on remote interns in the past.

Thanks for your interest.

Feb

2015

GDC 2015 – Who will be there?

I (Ross Dannenberg) will be at GDC next week from March 2-6. If anyone would like to meet up while there, send me a note either via my work email or through twitter (@gamelawyer).

Feb

2015

EVENT: More Than Just a Game: Interactive Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law

Queen Mary University Law School is hosting an event on 24 April 2015. Some details:

April 24, 2015

Time: 2:30pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, 67-69 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3JB

Interactive Entertainment is bursting with Intellectual Property. In this environment, creativity meets the latest technologies, thereby spawning cutting-edge law issues. This seminar will address some of the fundamental questions related to the legal nature of video games, the boundaries of protectability, and the relationship between Interactive Entertainment and Intellectual Property law, including digital exhaustion and key selling, and the issues surrounding interactivity as a form of creativity.

This seminar will provide a platform for academics, practitioners, developers and publishers to share views, exchange ideas, discuss challenges and explore solutions; in order to map the Intellectual Property issues that must to be addressed for a more appropriate promotion and protection of interactive entertainment works.

Click here for the event page.

I will be one of the speakers at the event. Hope to see you there.

Apr

2014

POSITION AVAILABLE: Summer Intern 2014

If there are any law students out there looking for an internship, send me an email with your resume. We’re looking for some summer help with lawsuit research, patent research, writing of blog entries, etc. It’s unpaid, but you will get some great experience. Persons local to the DC area are preferred, but we will consider remote work if it makes sense.

One caveat: we can only consider candidates who are NOT eligible to take the patent bar. This basically means we cannot consider anyone with a science or engineering degree. So, liberal arts folks, this is a great opportunity to get some exposure to video games and IP without competing against “patent people”.

Send a resume, writing sample, and law school and undergrad transcripts to me at my law firm email address. I trust you are smart enough to find it on the web.

-Ross

May

2013

Job Opening: Patent Arcade Research Intern

Well folks, its almost that time of year again. Summer. And we need a Research Intern.

If there are any 1L’s or 2L’s (or recent law school grads) looking for something to do this summer, the Patent Arcade is looking for a Research Intern to assist with researching and writing about developments in video game and IP law. Anyone with a keen interest in intellectual property and video games may apply. One caveat: for reasons I won’t go into, we can only consider candidates who are NOT eligible to take the patent bar. Candidates must have at least completed a first year of law school. Preference will be given to candidates local to the DC area, but working remotely is not out of the question for the right candidate. If interested, please send cover letter, resume, writing sample(s), and transcripts to the attention of Ross Dannenberg to dcjobs (at) bannerwitcoff (dot) com. This is an unpaid position.

Dec

2012

OUYA: Username Land Rush

I can’t shake my gut feeling that OUYA is going to be bigger than even they realize right now. Full disclosure: do I know some of the principals there? Yes. Have I heard their thoughts on this? Briefly. Do I have inside information? NO! Simply put, the potential for OUYA as a competitive Android game platform is significant, regardless of whether they incorporate their chipsets into other manufacturer’s television sets, get purchased by someone else, or carve their own path. I am optimistic that OUYA, in some way, shape, or form, is here for the long haul, which is why I was psyched when I received my official OUYA username the other day. In case you’re looking for me online, here’s where you can find me:

OUYA: AVIATOR

APPLE: ..AVIATOR..

XBOX: AVIATOR

See you online.

Oct

2012

Unmasking Intellectual Ventures?

A startup, IP Checkups, is looking to unmask the entities behind Intellectual Ventures (“IV”). IV owns a portfolio of 30,000+ patents. IP Checkups is looking to create a publicly-accessible database of patents owned by Intellectual Ventures and its shell companies. They also want to share their investigation with curious observers, using its online IV Thicket case files to show how they unearth Intellectual Ventures’ patent portfolio. They are crowdfunding at the moment at http://www.indiegogo.com/iv-thicket.

The project has received some press already, e.g., in the Wall Street Journal and VentureBeat:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/10/15/noir-detective-treatment-planned-for-patent-giant/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/15/crowdfunding-campaign-launches-to-expose-thousands-of-hidden-patents/

Will be interesting to see what comes of this…

Sep

2012

Gangnam Style (Skyrim Style)

Nothing like a little comic relief, video game style…

Check out the Skyrim version of Gangnam Style.

Aug

2012

Vote for the Patent Arcade as BEST BLAWG!

Its that time of year again, when the ABA votes for best 100 blogs/blawgs. Please vote for the Patent Arcade here: http://www.abajournal.com/blawgs/blawg100_submit/.

Jun

2012

GTLD Application Reveal: List of applicants announced

By Richard S. Stockton and Victoria R. M. Webb

The application period for new generic top level domains (which will supplement existing gTLDs like “.com”) closed on May 30, 2012. On June 13, 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Internet’s primary governing body, announced the applied-for gTLDs and their applicants–view the list here.

In summary, 1930 new gTLD applications were received. Due to the unexpectedly large number of applications received, ICANN has decided to evaluate the applications in 500-lot batches.

The list’s publication triggers the start of the formal objection period to applications. Objections can be based on a wide variety of grounds, including:

Legal Rights: the applied-for gTLD violates the objector’s intellectual property rights;
String Confusion: the applied-for gTLD is too similar to an existing top level domain or another applied-for or existing gTLD (objector must be a gTLD applicant or existing TLD operator);
Limited Public Interest: the applied-for gTLD violates generally accepted international legal norms of morality and public order; and
Community: substantial opposition to the applied-for gTLD exists within the applied-for gTLD’s targeted community (objector must be an established institution associated with a clearly defined community).

Generally speaking, the objection process is an inter partes process adjudicated by arbitration centers. In addition to objections, public comments regarding applications can now be submitted. The current version of the official applicant guidebook for the entire new gTLD process is available here.

Banner & Witcoff’s Richard Stockton will summarize and suggest next steps in the gTLD process in a podcast prepared in connection with the American Marketing Association. The podcast will be made available on Banner & Witcoff’s website on June 21. In the interim, please feel free to direct questions to Richard (rstockton@bannerwitcoff.com) or other Banner & Witcoff attorneys.

May

2012

Banner & Witcoff named to inaugural NLJ IP Hot List

Today Banner & Witcoff was named to the National Law Journal’s inaugural IP Hot List.

The National Law Journal selected 20 law firms who have proven to be innovators in applying legal principles to fast-changing technologies, and who have demonstrated creative strategies for litigation, patent prosecution, licensing and other transactional work. Banner & Witcoff’s ITC work, litigation work at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and design patent prosecution work are specifically highlighted in the article. Unlike many other IP rankings and lists, the NLJ is not a “pay for play” listing of IP firms, but rather reflects an objective assessment by independent analysts. This national recognition of the firm and its lawyers is indicative of the firm’s dedication to achieve and maintain the highest standards within the IP legal market.

Congratulations to everyone at Banner & Witcoff!

May

2012

New Book – Before The Crash: Early Video Game History

The Patent Arcade’s own Ross Dannenberg is a contributor to a new book on early video game history. Before the Crash: Early Video Game History, edited by Mark J. P. Wolf, will give readers a thorough overview of the early days of video games along with a sense of the optimism, enthusiasm, and excitement of those times. Students and teachers of media studies will enjoy this compelling volume.

Following the first appearance of arcade video games in 1971 and home video game systems in 1972, the commercial video game market was exuberant with fast-paced innovation and profit. New games, gaming systems, and technologies flooded into the market until around 1983, when sales of home game systems dropped, thousands of arcades closed, and major video game makers suffered steep losses or left the market altogether. In Before the Crash: Early Video Game History, editor Mark J. P. Wolf assembles essays that examine the fleeting golden age of video games, an era sometimes overlooked for older games’ lack of availability or their perceived “primitiveness” when compared to contemporary video games.

In twelve chapters, contributors consider much of what was going on during the pre-crash era: arcade games, home game consoles, home computer games, handheld games, and even early online games. The technologies of early video games are investigated, as well as the cultural context of the early period—from aesthetic, economic, industrial, and legal perspectives. Since the video game industry and culture got their start and found their form in this era, these years shaped much of what video games would come to be. This volume of early history, then, not only helps readers to understand the pre-crash era, but also reveals much about the present state of the industry.

TO PRE-ORDER OR PURCHASE THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

Mark J. P. Wolf is a professor in the Communication Department at Concordia University Wisconsin. His books include Abstracting Reality: Art, Communication, and Cognition in the Digital Age; The Medium of the Video Game; Virtual Morality: Morals, Ethics, and New Media; The Video Game Theory Reader; Myst and Riven: The World of the D’ni; The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to PlayStation and Beyond; The Video Game Theory Reader 2; and the forthcoming two-volume Encyclopedia of Video Games. He is also founder of the Landmark Video Game book series and the Video Game Studies Scholarly Interest Group within the Society of Cinema and Media Studies.

Contributors: Jessica Aldred, Ralph H. Baer, Brett Camper, Karen Collins, Ross A. Dannenberg (Editor of Patent Arcade!), Leonard Herman, Erkki Huhtamo, Carly A. Kocurek, Sheila C. Murphy, Ed Rotberg, Tim Skelly, Carl Therrien, Staci Tucker, Zach Whalen, Mark J. P. Wolf

Apr

2012

Job: Summer Intern 2012

If there are any law students out there looking for an internship, send me an email with your resume, as we’re looking for some summer help with lawsuit research, patent research, writing of blog entries, etc. It’s unpaid, but you will get some great experience. Persons local to the DC area are preferred, but will consider remote work if it makes sense.

UPDATE: Position filled. Thanks everyone for your interest.

Feb

2012

Who’s going to GDC 2012?

I will be in San Francisco from March 6-11 for GDC 2012. Drop me an email if you will be in town and want to meet for coffee, lunch, drinks, etc. -Ross

Jan

2012

Video Game Injury… it could happen to you

Sorry we’ve been silent for a while. Our “real jobs” has been keeping us away. In any event, an occurrence on Christmas Day reminded me of the progress that video games have made in the last 30 years. We can now injure ourselves running and jumping while playing video games just like we can running and jumping outside. I was playing Kinect Sports with my niece and my brother says to me “careful, I pulled a calf the first time I played.” My brother is older than me, so surely I will be fine, I though. Well as I landed from jumping over the last hurdle… pop! I TORE my calf muscle. Yes… ouch! Lesson learned. But this did remind me that video games have become much more sophisticated, developed, and viable for use in teaching real-life situations. I love my job.

Aug

2011

Vote for the Patent Arcade Blog!

VOTE FOR PATENTARCADE.COM AS ONE OF THE BEST BLOGS

Attention Patent Arcadians!!! (I just made that up)

I am writing to request your vote for PatentArcade.com as one of the blogs to be included in the ABA journal’s annual list of the 100 best legal blogs. The contest is referred to as Blawg 100 Amici.

As many of you know, I created this blog about 5 or 6 years ago to discuss the cross section of intellectual property law and video games. The Blog/Blawg offers news and updates regarding video game IP law, cases, and patents. Our index of lawsuits is a primary resource for law students, journalists, and attorneys alike. Our index of video game patents continues to develop, with more patents being added routinely.

Please vote for the blog (blawg) and spread the word about the contest (and the blog) to folks in the legal industry. There is a form that has three questions (name, e-mail, and why you are a fan) to be completed. The forms are due (on-line) by September 9. The form is at this site http://www.abajournal.com/blawgs/blawg100_submit/ (also linked throughout this post).

The criteria include that you believe other lawyers should know about it, the author is recognizable as a lawyer in the vast majority of his posts, the blog is written with an audience of lawyers or law students in mind, and the blog does not promote the author’s products and services. Additional information is provided on the ABA Journal’s website.

Vote here

Aug

2011

Thanks to our Summer Research Intern

A big thank you from the Patent Arcade blog to Maryam Henson, who has been our research intern this summer. Maryam is an evening law student at Georgetown and works full-time training fellowship applicants at Georgetown University. In addition to all of that, this summer she’s kept our blog updated by researching cases and writing articles. Maryam also revised our Patent and Lawsuit sections — we now have searchable tables, with links to patent and lawsuit summaries. We appreciate her hard work and intiative on the blog this summer, and all our best wishes for the coming Fall semester!

Aug

2011

Patents section revised and updated

We’ve been working on a renovation of our PATENTS link, as well as additional content, which is now live. It’s a bit cumbersome, but there is a lot more information there now. We’ll continue to work on making it more user friendly. Check it out and let us know if you have any suggestions.

Jun

2011

Ads for XBox – NUads

Ads on Xbox

As advertising continues to evolve for game platforms, the New York Times reports that Microsoft is set to launch a new suite of advertising tools called NUads (short for natural user interface ads) on the Xbox Kinect gaming consoles.

Developments at the USPTO earlier this month indicated that Microsoft had plans for a new, interactive advertising platform utilizing the Xbox 360 Kinect camera controller. On June 6, 2011, Microsoft filed a trademark application for the term “NUADS” for “advertising services, namely, promoting and marketing the goods and services of others through online interactive video games by enabling consumers to interact with third-party advertising content through voice or body gestures via computer game console and sensor devices.” See full trademark application here.

Both Gamasutra and Techie Buzz speculated that this could be the natural user interface that Microsoft had been talking about for quite a while, which would allow them to offer a similar service to iAds, the Apple advertising platform for app developers to create apps/ads that offer an interactive and aesthetically pleasing experience for the user. According to the Times, NUAds will allow Xbox users to use voice and motion commands to interact with advertisements while they are playing games or watching videos.
The NUAds will be located on the console dashboard, embedded in games and other video content. They are intended to help advertisers keep the attention of Xbox users in a way traditional television advertising does not by creating a way for users to interact and engage with their televisions. Using voice commands, gamers will also be able to send messages about ads to networking sites like Twitter, to text messages about ads, or to vote as part of promotions.
These new advertising options will be presented today (June 21, 2011) to advertisers at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, an annual conference for advertisers and marketers.

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