Patent Trial and Appeal Board had ruled Worlds’ Patents valid in prior challenges
Boston, MA, Aug. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Monday, August 2, 2021, Worlds Inc. filed its opening appellate brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, asking the Federal Circuit to reverse an adverse District Court ruling from April 30, 2021 in favor of defendants Activision Blizzard Inc., Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., and Activision Publishing, Inc. Worlds has been in litigation with the Activision defendants since 2012, with Worlds asserting infringement of its patent rights directed to three-dimensional virtual world technology and network architecture. That litigation ended when the District Court ruled that Worlds’ patents were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as directed to patent-ineligible subject matter.
Among other points raised in its 53-page brief, Worlds argued that the District Court’s Order incorrectly viewed Worlds’ patent claims as implementing the abstract idea of filtering using conventional computer technology. Worlds also disagreed with the District Court’s comparison of Worlds’ technology as a capacity limit for virtual worlds, since Worlds’ technology was directed to increasing, rather than limiting, the number of users who could simultaneously access the virtual world. Worlds pointed out that the District Court’s Order conflicted with the outcomes reached during Worlds’ defense of its patent claims before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) 2015 through 2020. Worlds successfully appealed three of those proceedings to the Federal Circuit in 2017-2018. Ultimately, the PTAB confirmed that all five of Worlds’ asserted patents against Activision were valid.
A copy of Worlds’ opening appellate brief may be obtained from the U.S. Government’s PACER system (pacer.uscourts.gov/) and via the link on Worlds’ website worlds.com/press.php/.
Worlds CEO Thom Kidrin stated, “While we believed that both the law and evidence were in Worlds’ favor while before the District Court, the District Court did not agree. However, we strongly believe our opening appellate brief demonstrates that Worlds’ patents fully comply with section 101, and we hope the Federal Circuit agrees.”
Mr. Kidrin further noted, “Activision will have the opportunity to file a brief in opposition, and Worlds may file a reply brief. After that, we expect the Federal Circuit will conduct a hearing, most likely in early 2022, before deciding the case. The appeals process takes time, but we are confident that Worlds will prevail and return to District Court to pick up where we left off in our infringement case against Activision.”
Mr. Kidrin also stated “We have faced and overcome many ‘David vs. Goliath’-type challenges in the many years of asserting and defending the technical innovations developed in-house at Worlds. But Worlds has persevered and obtained rulings confirming the validity of its intellectual property under U.S. patent law. Worlds is a survivor and will demonstrate to the Federal Circuit that its intellectual property is patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101, as the PTAB previously confirmed.”
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About Worlds Inc.
Worlds, Inc. (OTCQB: WDDD), is a leading intellectual property developer and licensee of patents related to 3D online virtual worlds. The Company has a portfolio of 10 U.S. patents for multi-server technology for 3D applications. The earliest of these patents issued on an application filed November 12, 1996. A provisional patent application, serial number 60/020,296, was filed on November 13, 1995. These patents are related to each other and disclose and claim systems and methods for enabling users to interact in a virtual space. For additional information about Worlds, Inc., please visit: http://www.worlds.com/patents.php.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to Worlds Inc. that are based on the beliefs of Worlds' management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events including estimates and projections about its business based on certain assumptions of its management, including those described in this Release. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Additional risk factors are included in the Company’s public filings with the SEC. Should one or more of these underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as “hoped,” “anticipated,” “believed,” “estimated,” “should,” “preparing,” “expected” or words of a similar nature. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
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