No Man's Sky

[PVarck31]

Re: No Man's Sky

This was said by someone on reddit. Sounds like he knows what he's talking about. But of course you never know.

Let's get this out of the way up front: I am not an attorney, let alone your attorney. I am simply an interested geek who's made a particular study of the law as it relates to the IT world.
So, that said, math itself cannot be patented ... period. Only a specific implementation of it qualifies as an invention even in the US. Since it's extremely unlikely Sean used their exact engine which is actually patented, this is all just a bunch of bull**** to garner some PR and a possible "go the f--- away" payday.
US citation: "In addition to the terms "laws of nature," "natural phenomena," and "abstract ideas," judicially recognized exceptions have been described using various other terms, including "physical phenomena," "scientific principles," "systems that depend on human intelligence alone," "disembodied concepts," "mental processes" and "disembodied mathematical algorithms and formulas," for example."
EU citation:"(2) The following in particular shall not be regarded as inventions within the meaning of paragraph 1: (a) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;"
So even while in the US, recent SCOTUS decisions have clarified this, in the EU it is enshrined in absolute terms in the statute itself that mathematical methods, whether they be complex or not, do not qualify for patent protection.
What does this mean for the game? Hopefully Sean sticks with the NewEgg model of patent troll defense: fight to the end and never settle. This has proven extremely effective for them and considering the apparent strength of their defense against this spurious accusation, it seems the proper course.
I, for one, have sent an email already offering my financial support (separate from my pre-purchase of three copies for myself and my kids), such as it is, for any fight against this garbage. I urge everyone else to likewise stand up, metaphorically speaking, against a bunch of goons who simply want a quick payday on the back of a successful young game company.
Edited to complete a sentence I left incomplete. Funny thing is I am on pain meds now and wasn't then. Go figure ...

[PVarck31]

Re: No Man's Sky

And also, this Genicap company is quoted as saying they don't want to stop the launch of the game. Doubt they would say that if they were preparing to file an injunction and start a legal battle

The more I'm reading, the more I think this could be really bad. If there isn't some sort of quick settlement here this could be a years long legal battle and could effectively kill this game. This is just unreal. I am in shock over this. 3 weeks away and it could end up being delayed for months to years, or even never see the light of day. Just unreal.

[Dog]

Re: No Man's Sky

R.I.P.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mestevo]

Re: No Man's Sky

Thought the news kinda came across like 'we don't want to hold up the launch (because we might be able to make some money off of it)'

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: No Man's Sky

This will not delay the launch, because they will not be able to get an injunction they need in time in the territories.

This read more like they wanted to 'take a peak' into NMS's code, because they are also making a game themselves. A 'tit for tat' scenario.

[daniel77733]

Re: No Man's Sky

I'm still trying to figure out how it can get passed that you can sue for a game using the word "sky"??? Seriously, im shaking my head.

Oh well. Like they say, bad publicity is good publicity. Very curious about the game. Watched the "fight" video and it looks like Star Trek/Stargate which is fine by me. Will definitely keep an eye on the game and will be reading impressions when the game is released.

[Burns11]

Re: No Man's Sky

No way this delays the game, money invested is worth more than any legal costs and this sort of thing takes ages to work it's way through the courts. As for the validity, I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of their case, if they even have one. I will say that I don't think the person on Reddit is correct, this isn't just a mathematical formula, these are specific mathematical formulas applied in a specific way. So this isn't a patent on the Pythagorean theorem, it's a patent on something more akin to encryption or an A/V codec.

So, let's say you have the surface of a sphere (planet) and you can compress that down to a handful of variables and store that, you could also plug in random numbers into those variables to get something that looks like a different sphere (planet).

Also, Sky had to defend their trademark, this wasn't just Sky overreaching with their trademark. Sky has been used in games before, No Man's Sky's application wasn't just limited to "a game named No Man's Sky". Currently, the No Man's Sky trademark application in the US is suspended because it was entirely too broad.

[mgoblue]

Re: No Man's Sky

No way this delays the game, money invested is worth more than any legal costs and this sort of thing takes ages to work it's way through the courts. As for the validity, I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of their case, if they even have one. I will say that I don't think the person on Reddit is correct, this isn't just a mathematical formula, these are specific mathematical formulas applied in a specific way. So this isn't a patent on the Pythagorean theorem, it's a patent on something more akin to encryption or an A/V codec.

So, let's say you have the surface of a sphere (planet) and you can compress that down to a handful of variables and store that, you could also plug in random numbers into those variables to get something that looks like a different sphere (planet).

Also, Sky had to defend their trademark, this wasn't just Sky overreaching with their trademark. Sky has been used in games before, No Man's Sky's application wasn't just limited to "a game named No Man's Sky". Currently, the No Man's Sky trademark application in the US is suspended because it was entirely too broad.

Yeah, if you don't defend a trademark you can get screwed....

[LingeringRegime]

Re: No Man's Sky

"Seems" like the patent expired already....

*Crosses Fingers*

https://register.epo.org/application?number=EP05100648&lng=en&tab=main

[PVarck31]

Re: No Man's Sky

Was hoping to wake up to some news from Sean Murray telling us everything is on track and not to worry.

I'm a little concerned he's been quiet.

Hopefully if they need to come to an agreement it can be quick, fair, and painless.

[The JareBear]

Re: No Man's Sky

This has me stressed out, lol. Just gonna cross my fingers and hope for the best

[Burns11]

Re: No Man's Sky

"Seems" like the patent expired already....

*Crosses Fingers*

https://register.epo.org/application...ng=en&tab=main

"Seems" like the patent expired already....

*Crosses Fingers*

https://register.epo.org/application...ng=en&tab=main

Wrong one

https://register.epo.org/application?number=EP00929732

The one you linked to was using this method specifically for stereolithography, this one is general.

[Dogslax41]

Re: No Man's Sky

If it's Genicap's goal to market this a solution to developers I highly doubt that the thing they want to be known for before they try to sell their program is hassling a small development team with a surprise last minute patent claim. My guess is that they waited until Hello Games fully integrated it and announced gold so they had some leverage to make a play for a share of the profits as well as a peek behind the curtain on how they implemented their equation. Granted they have to defend their patent since its the bulk of what it sounds like their business plan is, but I don't see this stopping the release. Just means that Hello Games is going to make a bit or a lot less than they originally thought.

[PVarck31]

Re: No Man's Sky

Yeah, most of what I am seeing is that this shouldn't cause a delay. If Genicap wanted to stop the launch they could have already filed legal claims.

If they want a piece of the pie, then fine. Maybe they deserve it. Lets just hope that Sean Murray is smart enough to hear them out and come to an agreement.

[Dogslax41]

Re: No Man's Sky

Yeah, most of what I am seeing is that this shouldn't cause a delay. If Genicap wanted to stop the launch they could have already filed legal claims.

If they want a piece of the pie, then fine. Maybe they deserve it. Lets just hope that Sean Murray is smart enough to hear them out and come to an agreement.

I think they absolutely deserve it. It's pretty clear Hello Games screwed up in this situation. Just going to have to bite the bullet and go to the table with their hat in hand and try to knock out the most mutually beneficial solution. At the end of the day they made a huge mistake but still have a product that is going to sell they just need to keep that in mind and take their lumps and move on. It doesn't concern me for release at all. It does however concern me on how much they are going to support the title post release if they know their profit cut is smaller than they expected.