Patent Office Grants EFF's request for reexamination of Online Gaming Patent

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Contact:

Emily Berger
   Intellectual Property Fellow
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   emily@eff.org
   +1 415 436-9333 x112

Paul Grewal
   Partner
   Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder
   pgrewal@daycasebeer.com
   +1 408 873-0110

Patent Office Grants EFF's Request for Reexamination of
Online Gaming Patent

Fifth Successful Result for Patent Busting Project

San Francisco - Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has
won reexamination of a bogus online gaming patent from the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) -- the fifth
successful reexamination request from EFF's Patent Busting
Project.

Sheldon F. Goldberg was awarded the illegitimate patent for
online gaming systems that use tournament-style play,
advertising, and real-time updates of ladder-rankings in
multi-player games.  Goldberg has used this bogus patent to
coerce licensing fees from numerous small businesses.

In the reexamination request, EFF along with Paul Grewal
and Brad Waugh of Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder show
that the technology covered by the Goldberg patent had been
widely disseminated in the public domain for years before
Goldberg made his claim.  The Patent Office took quick
action on the request, recognizing this substantial new
question of patentability less than a month after the
request was filed.

"The patent process was designed to encourage invention,
investment, and disclosure and was not meant to be used as
a tool to threaten legitimate businesses," said EFF
Intellectual Property Fellow Emily Berger.  "Reexamination
proceedings like these are essential in protecting the
public from patents that should never have been granted in
the first place."

This reexamination request is part of EFF's Patent Busting
Project, which combats the chilling effects bad patents
have on public and consumer interests.  So far, the project
has killed one patent covering a system and method of
creating digital recordings of live performances.  Four
more reexaminations, including this one, are under review
by the USPTO due to the Patent Busting Project's efforts.

"Undeserved patents cause significant harm to innovation
and competition in the information age," said Paul Grewal.
"We are pleased that the PTO recognized the substantial
questions of patentability raised in EFF's request and look
forward to the PTO's ultimate decision on the merits."

Students from the Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for
Internet and Society at Harvard Law School also carried out
extensive research for the reexamination request, helping
locate much of the critical evidence of prior use of
technologies covered by Goldberg's patent.  Members of the
Netrek online gaming community also provided technical
analysis and legal declarations that figured prominently in
the PTO's decision to grant EFF's reexamination request.

For the full reexamination order:
http://w2.eff.org/patent/wanted/sheldon/reexam/goldberg-r...

For more on the Patent-Busting Project:
http://www.eff.org/patent/

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/03/12

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/


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