Microsoft sued for $90 mil. over Halo, online technology
- March 10, 2009 13:59 PM PST
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Laywers claim that Microsoft owes $90 million dollars to Internet chat service "Paltalk" for patent infringement.
Microsoft is currently being sued over technology that allows Halo players to host and participate in online games, according to the Boston Globe. Paltalk, a company that specializes in Internet chat service, claims that they own the patent rights to inventions developed by MPath Interactive Inc., which allows Halo players to run "real-time, multiplayer online games." Microsoft, however, says that the MPath technology is for older dial-up services and don't apply to the way Halo's online system works.
PalTalk Holdings Inc. says Halo games and the Xbox console on which they are played infringe two patents for inventions developed by MPath Interactive Inc. PalTalk bought the patents for less than $200,000, Microsoft lawyer David Pritikin said.
Microsoft said it did review the inventions and chose a different path in developing its games. The technology is for an older dial-up method of communicating between computers and "the patents don't cover the way the Halo games work," Pritikin said.
Microsoft also is challenging the validity of the PalTalk patents and told the jury that, even if it agrees with PalTalk, "the patents aren't worth much, certainly not $90 million. -- Boston.com
In related news, check out our Halo 3: ODST hub, as well as our preview/interview with Bungie's Joseph Statin for more information about the newest game in the Halo universe.
Trying to sue Microsoft seems like poking a sleeping grizzly bear with a stick. And considering that it's the world's biggest software company, $90 million probably isn't much.
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- Mar 10 2009 at 02:54:25:PM PST
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Wait a minute. WTF are they talking about? Is Halo the only game to do this? What am I missing?
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killacrazy3 wrote:
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Hey gamepro editors please erase this clown's profile...
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well i hope microsoft pay up since they quick to file a lawsuit on other companies
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Why is this coming out now? halo 3 is almost 2 years old, i highly doubt paltalk is gonna win the suit, the best they can do is reach a settlement with MS
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It seems like constant law suit is part of being a corporation. Microsoft is also getting sued because Lenovo charges $50 to downgrade to Windows XP. The problem is that Microsoft has nothing to do with Lenovo manually installing Windows XP. Dell charges $150.
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