In 2012, Markus "Notch" Persson, the creator of Minecraft, was sued by Uniloc, a company that claimed to own the patent for an anti-piracy system used in Minecraft Pocket Edition. Notch was outraged by the lawsuit, stating that software patents are "plainly bad" and that it's absurd to patent ideas. The Minecraft community rallied around Notch, and the owner of Uniloc received numerous emails and messages from angry fans. The US government eventually dismissed the lawsuit, and in 2016, the patent was removed. Notch emerged victorious, but the case highlights the issues with patenting ideas and the potential for companies to stifle innovation by claiming ownership of broad concepts.
Here are the extracted facts:
1. In 2012, the creator of Minecraft received an email informing him that the game was being sued by Uniloc.
2. The lawsuit was over a patent that Uniloc had registered for an anti-piracy system.
3. Uniloc had developed the patent years before Minecraft launched its Pocket Edition.
4. The patent was for a system or method to prevent access to unauthorized content in digital information.
5. Minecraft implemented an anti-piracy system for its game on Android.
6. Uniloc claimed that Minecraft's anti-piracy system infringed on their patent.
7. The creator of Minecraft, Notch, was opposed to software patents and expressed his disagreement on social media.
8. Notch offered to settle the lawsuit by playing a game of Quake against the owner of Uniloc, but the offer was declined.
9. The Minecraft community rallied around Notch and sent emails and messages to the owner of Uniloc, asking him to withdraw the lawsuit.
10. The owner of Uniloc claimed that he had spent decades developing the patent and had the right to protect his idea.
11. The US government eventually dropped the lawsuit, and in 2016, the patent was removed.
12. Uniloc had previously sued other companies, including Electronic Arts, which was forced to pay $5 million.
13. Uniloc also tried to sue Microsoft for allegedly using their code.
14. Warner Bros. has obtained a patent that could put video game developments at risk.