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Uniloc

Uniloc Corporation is a company founded in Australia in 1992.[1] Originally focused on software licensing and activation tools, in the 2000s the company became known for aggressive patent litigation against software companies.

History

The Uniloc technology is based on a patent granted to the inventor Ric Richardson who was also the founder of the Uniloc Company. The original patent application was dated late 1992 in Australia and granted in the US in 1996 and covers a technology popularly known as product activation, try and buy software and machine locking.[2]

In 1993 Uniloc distributed "Try and Buy" versions of software for multiple publishers via a marketing agreement with IBM.[3] An initial success was the sale of thousands of copies of a software package (First Aid, developed by Cybermedia) distributed on the front cover of Windows Sources magazine in 1994.

In 1997 a US subsidiary was set up called Uniloc PC Preload to produce preloaded unlockable editions of popular software products on new PCs. Distribution agreements were executed with eMachines[4] and Toshiba. Family PC magazine also produced two months of magazines featuring unlockable software from Uniloc PC Preload on the cover in 2000.[5]

In 2003, Uniloc Corporation set up a US subsidiary called Uniloc USA, which operates out of Rhode Island and Southern California. As of 2009, the company licensed its patented technology to software publishers and entertainment companies including Sega.[6]

Patent lawsuits

As of 2010, Uniloc had sued 73 companies that it alleges have violated one of its copy-protection patents.[7] According to Uniloc, 25 of those companies settled with it out of court.[7] Due to the abstract nature of its patents, and its litigious activities, Uniloc has been deemed a "patent troll" by critics.[8][9][10][11][12]

Microsoft

Uniloc sued Microsoft in 2003 for violating its patent relating to technology designed to deter software piracy. In 2006, US District Judge William Smith ruled in favour of Microsoft, but an appeals court overturned his decision, saying there was a "genuine issue of material fact" and that he should not have ruled on the case without hearing from a jury.[13] On April 8, 2009 a Rhode Island jury found Microsoft had violated the patent and told Microsoft to pay Uniloc $388 million in damages.[14] After this success, Uniloc filed new patent infringement suits against Sony America, McAfee, Activision, Quark, Borland Software and Aspyr Media.[15]

The decision against Microsoft was subsequently overturned on September 29, 2009, when Judge Smith vacated the jury's verdict and ruled in favour of Microsoft again, saying the jury "lacked a grasp of the issues before it and reached a finding without a legally sufficient basis".[16] Uniloc appealed the judge's decision, alleging bias and in 2011 the jury verdict was reinstated against Microsoft. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said that instead of using the usual "25 percent rule", the damage awards for infringement would need to be recalculated.[17]

In March 2012, Uniloc and Microsoft reached a "final and mutually agreeable resolution", the terms of which were not disclosed.[18]

Minecraft and other games

On July 20, 2012, Uniloc filed a lawsuit against Mojang, citing the Minecraft Pocket Edition, as an infringement upon patents claiming exclusive rights to a method of software license checking.[19] Markus Persson of Mojang has stated he does not believe Minecraft infringes the Uniloc US patent no. 6,857,067 and that Mojang AB will defend the lawsuit.[20] The same lawsuit was also filed against other Android game developers including Electronic Arts (maker of Bejeweled 2),[21] Laminar Research (maker of X-Plane),[22][23] Distinctive Developments, Gameloft, Halfbrick Studios, Madfinger Games and Square Enix.[24] The patent involved in the dispute was invalidated in March 2016.[25]

External links

References

  1. Corporate Profile for Uniloc, dated Dec. 4, 1999. – Free Online Library Thefreelibrary.com, retrieved 2012-07-25^
  2. Mel McMillan. Aussie wins hundreds of millions The Daily Telegraph, 2012-03-16, retrieved 2025-12-15^
  3. Software can be tried, then bought by phone The Canberra Times, National Library of Australia, 1993-09-23, retrieved 2025-12-15^
  4. Uniloc's Try-Before-You-Buy Software to be Included With Emachines PCs in 2001; Consumers Can Try Top-Selling Games, Utilities Free for Up to 7 Days Before Deciding to Buy Business Wire, 2000, retrieved 2012-07-25^
  5. Uniloc.com Debuts Try-Before-You-Buy Software With Family PC Magazine;`'Star Wars Rogue]^
  6. SoftAnchor Customers Uniloc.com, 2009-05-12, retrieved 2012-07-25^
  7. Corporate Counsel: Patent Litigation Weekly: Uniloc Keeps Filing Software Suits « Uniloc retrieved 2013-04-23^
  8. Rob Beschizza. Patent troll targets Minecraft Boing Boing, 2012-07-21, retrieved 2013-03-29^
  9. Ryan Paul. Minecraft developer sued by aggressive litigator over DRM patent Ars Technica, Condé Nast Publications, 2012-07-21, retrieved 2013-03-29^
  10. Zach Weissmueller. How Patent Trolls Kill Innovation Reason.com, 2013-02-20, retrieved 2013-03-29^
  11. corbet. Red Hat and Rackspace face down a patent troll LWN.net, 2013-03-28, retrieved 2013-03-29^
  12. Jon Brodkin. You can't patent simple math, judge tells patent troll Uniloc Ars Technica, Condé Nast Publications, 2013-03-28, retrieved 2013-03-29^
  13. Asher Moses. Aussie inventor's $445m Microsoft windfall wiped out The Sydney Morning Herald, September 30, 2009^
  14. Uniloc Awarded $388 Million in Damages in Major Patent Infringement Case Against Microsoft 2009-04-20, retrieved 2012-07-25^
  15. Asher Moses. Van man 1, Microsoft 0: now Aussie Ric's gunning for more tech giants Sydney Morning Herald, 2010-08-05^
  16. Nick Eaton. Judge overturns Uniloc's record $388M victory over Microsoft Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 29, 2009, retrieved 30 September 2009^
  17. Ben Grubb and Asher Moses. One man v Microsoft: a day in the Dickmobile, another day in court for Aussie inventor Sydney Morning Herald, 2011-01-07^
  18. Susan Decker. Microsoft Settles Fight Over Uniloc Anti-Piracty Patent Bloomberg, 2012-03-05, retrieved 2012-10-23^
  19. Barry Bumgardner. Mojang v Uniloc patent dispute United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas – Tyler Division, 2012-07-20, retrieved 2012-07-21^
  20. Markus Persson. Twitter / notch: Unfortunately for them, th ... 2012-07-22, retrieved 2012-07-22^
  21. Uniloc USA, Inc. et. al. v. Electronic Arts Inc. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas – Tyler Division, 2012-07-20, retrieved 2012-07-21^
  22. Details of the Uniloc Lawsuit X-Plane, 11 September 2012^
  23. John Biggs. Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll TechCrunch, 2013-02-02, retrieved 2022-10-04^
  24. John Ribeiro. Electronic Arts, Other Game Developers, Sued for Patent Infringement PCWorld, 2012-07-23, retrieved 23 July 2012^
  25. Joe Mullin. Patent that cost Microsoft millions gets invalidated Ars Technica, 25 March 2016, retrieved 17 January 2019^