Worlds, Inc. v. Activision Blizzard, Inc.

Worlds, Inc. (plaintiff) created the software products Worlds Chat and AlphaWorld and filed patents for an invention enabling large numbers of computer users to interact over a client-server network in a virtual world displayed on a screen. Worlds first filed a provisional application in 1995. The ’045 patent was filed in 1996 but did not directly reference or claim priority to the provisional application. However, the provisional application was mentioned in prosecution-history documents. Worlds filed the ’690 patent in 2000 as a continuation of the ’045 patent, but the ’690 patent did not reference the provision application. The ’558 patent was filed in 2006 as a continuation of the ’690 patent, and its first sentence claimed priority from the provisional application. The ’856, ’501, and ’998 patents were filed in 2009 as continuations of the patent chain, and the first sentence of each patent claimed priority from the provisional application. Worlds Chat and AlphaWorld practiced all of the ’690, ’558, ’856, ’501, and ’998 patent claims and were in public use more than one year prior to the filing date of the ’045 patent. Worlds sued Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its related companies (defendants) for infringing the ’690, ’558, ’856, ’501, and ’998 patents with massive multiplayer online role-playing games. Activision Blizzard filed for summary judgment arguing that the asserted claims in the listed patents were invalid.