Impulse Technology sues for Kinect patent infringement

Ohio-based Impulse Technology Ltd. has sued Microsoft, and a number of third party publishers, for alleged patent infringement. According to the court filing, Impulse holds a number of patents that cover a "wide variety of games where the movement of a pl

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Ohio-based Impulse Technology Ltd. has sued Microsoft, and a number of third party publishers, for alleged patent infringement. According to the court filing (via Patent Arcade), Impulse holds a number of patents that cover a "wide variety of games where the movement of a player is tracked in three dimensions." Like Kinect, its patents supposedly cover "tracking of the player done by use of a camera." In addition to Microsoft, the company has filed suit with Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, THQ, Konami, Sega, Majeeso, Namco Bandai and Harmonix, claiming that the following games infringe upon their patents: Kinect Sports, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Joy Ride, Kinectimals, EA Sports Active 2.0, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, MotionSports, Michael Jackson: The Experience, Fighters Uncaged, The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout, Fantastic Pets, UFC Trainer, Dance Paradise, DECA Sports Freedom, Dance Masters, Virtua Tennis 4, Sonic Free Riders, Zumba Fitness, Body and Brain Connection, and Dance Central. Whew. While patent-related cases in the gaming industry are not uncommon, it's rare to see one that includes as many defendants as this one. Impulse is seeking an injunction on all of these companies and products, and is seeking "monetary damages in an amount to be determined." Focal to the case are a variety of patents registered to Impulse: 6,308,565; 6,430,997; 6,749,432; 6,765,726; 6,876,496; 7,359,121; and 7,791,808.

From Patent #7,791,808

The original patent is meant primarily for sporting applications, however the diagrams do show some similarities between Kinect and Impulse's original patent. The real question will come into the implementation of the technologies: lawyers will have to point out if Kinect makes motion gaming possible in a different way than it is implemented in Impulse's design.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 22, 2011 2:15 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Impulse Technology sues for Kinect patent infringement.

    Ohio-based Impulse Technology Ltd. has sued Microsoft, and a number of third party publishers, for alleged patent infringement. According to the court filing, Impulse holds a number of patents that cover a "wide variety of games where the movement of a pl

    • reply
      July 22, 2011 2:22 PM

      Software patents, protecting innovation for everybody!

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        July 22, 2011 2:43 PM

        These aren't software patents.

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          July 22, 2011 2:48 PM

          Did you actually look any of the patents up before posting? Cause I did :)

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            July 22, 2011 2:57 PM

            6,308,565 is a hardware system, for example.

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              July 22, 2011 3:00 PM

              a computer operatively coupled to the tracking system for updating in real time a player virtual location in a virtual space corresponding to the physical location of the player in the physical space, for updating a view of the virtual space, and for providing at least one indicium of performance of the player moving in the physical space, wherein the at least one indicium is or is derived from a measure of a movement parameter of the player.
              The tracking system is hardware, but it's tied to a computer that does everything in software.

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                July 23, 2011 8:02 AM

                I really hate the way the patent system is currently setup. A company shouldn't be able to patent a general concept. Especially when they have no actual invention or design for accomplishing that.

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          July 22, 2011 11:34 PM

          [deleted]

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      July 22, 2011 2:24 PM

      Of a pl, indeed.

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      July 22, 2011 2:33 PM

      lol took their sweet fucking time to pipe up about it. I've never even heard of Impulse before

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      July 22, 2011 2:42 PM

      Once again class. If it doesn't make any money, we don't give a damn. If it does, it's ours. IT"S OURS!

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      July 22, 2011 2:45 PM

      No one can have the same ideas, that impossible. If someone does you better sue them for stealing from you, but wait a few months after their product gets released.

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      July 22, 2011 3:01 PM

      These patents were filed in the late 90s. Wasn't this technology basically around before then? I'm thinking, for instance, of those things fighting games in the big arcades where you throw punches that register on the screen etc. Anyway, lol patents.

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      July 22, 2011 11:25 PM

      I'm going to patent thinking of an idea for any purpose. That way if you even think about any ideas for anything, I will sue you.

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        July 23, 2011 1:07 AM

        Damn, the patent trolls were slow with this one.

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