See news video here:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/842375

 

Sheldon Goldberg, the infamous patent hoarder that made the EFF's Top 10 Most Wanted (http://w2.eff.org/patent/), has made headlines again. This time, he's claiming that 2 of his patents cover the basic network architecture that comprises the internet as we know it today. And he means business; he's going after the biggest websites in the world, naming eBaum's World, Google, Youtube, Yahoo, AOL, Digg, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNET, The Weather Channel and others in a lawsuit filed originally last year. (http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-txedce/case_no-2:2007cv00263/case_id-103830/)

The 2 patents in question are nos. 6,712,702 (Method and system for playing games on a network) and 6,183,366 (Network gaming system). Don't let the gaming related patent names fool you, he's spinning these patents to encompass all aspects of basic networking. Here are some of the ridiculous claims found in these patents:

'702 Patent - Claim 53
"An apparatus for a service on a communications network"

'366 Patent - Claim 1
"An apparatus for presenting one of products and services while providing an interactive informational service on a network"

To make matters worse, he filed the suit in the Eastern District of Texas, a division notorious for their favoritism toward patent hoarders:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060203/0332207.shtml

http://www.technologyreview.com/InfoTech-Software/wtr_16280,300,p1.html?PM=GO&a=f&a=f&a=f&a=f&a=f)

We hope that the Judge in East Texas will realize that you can't simply turn a terribly antiquated patent for blackjack over a network into a patent on networking as a whole.

If you have any information on Sheldon Goldberg or similar patent cases please email legal@ebaumsworld.com