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posted by janrinok on Monday August 20 2018, @08:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the puns-means-prizes dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

The so-called "teledildonics patent," owned by a company that many would deem a "patent troll," has just expired. Now US sex toy companies can create the Internet-controlled vibrators, dildos, and whatever else of their dreams with significantly less fear of being sued.

On Friday, US Patent No. 6,368,268 expired after being on file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for 20 years. The company that had previously held the patent, TZU Technologies, LLC, of Pasadena, California, had filed 10 lawsuits alleging infringement since 2015—one as recently as December 2017. All suits appear to have been settled, with TZU Technologies receiving a payout in exchange for dropping the lawsuit.

This expiration news was met with great fanfare in the sex toy corner of the Internet, even meriting a mention from @RikerGoogling.

"The race will be on to create the most fantastic orgasmic experience possible over an Internet connection," she wrote. "The SexTech market is exploding with demand, meaning that there will be a lot of money in it for businesses who are successful in that effort."

Meanwhile, Daniel Nazer, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, also applauded the occasion.

"It's a classic example of how an overbroad patent can frustrate innovation," he emailed Ars. "To the extent the industry faces other challenges because of a stigma against sex tech or adult products, those will remain. But at least startups in the space won't immediately get sued."

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/cybersex-toy-industry-heats-up-as-infamous-teledildonics-patent-climaxes/


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Monday August 20 2018, @08:52PM (6 children)

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Monday August 20 2018, @08:52PM (#723909) Journal

    Thousands of new IoT things, made by companies having little to no experience with IT? Sounds like a black-hat hacker's wet dream!

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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Gaaark on Monday August 20 2018, @09:19PM

    by Gaaark (41) on Monday August 20 2018, @09:19PM (#723920) Journal

    DDOS cuming
    (Dedicated Denial Of Sex)

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  • (Score: 2) by ikanreed on Monday August 20 2018, @09:22PM (4 children)

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 20 2018, @09:22PM (#723922) Journal

    I'm sorry but, in what world are the kinds of insular losers who can't get a date and resort to "teledildonics" not super fucking versed in IT?

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by takyon on Monday August 20 2018, @09:53PM (1 child)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday August 20 2018, @09:53PM (#723934) Journal

      A world run by script kiddies, like, so duh.

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      • (Score: 4, Touché) by ikanreed on Monday August 20 2018, @09:59PM

        by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 20 2018, @09:59PM (#723938) Journal

        The world is run by script kiddies.

        Only the script is a nightly batch that moves money bits around a bank.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by KiloByte on Monday August 20 2018, @10:10PM (1 child)

      by KiloByte (375) on Monday August 20 2018, @10:10PM (#723946)

      I'm sorry but, in what world are the kinds of insular losers who can't get a date and resort to "teledildonics" not super fucking versed in IT?

      This "teledildonics" can be used in two setups:
      • between two humans (a remote lover)
      • with an AI by an idiot who doesn't know the basics about privacy

      Your stereotypical IT person doesn't belong to the first group, and has enough clue to run any such software locally. Although, it's pretty hard to come up with a remotely operable sex toy fit for males (at least within current mainstream technology).

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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 21 2018, @06:41PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 21 2018, @06:41PM (#724305)

        Hooking a fleshlight up to a piston isn't exactly rocket surgery, and it's been done already, by a good few companies. Never mind the oscillating "guybrators" that have been popping up over the past few years and potentials to integrate them with external controls. And it's probably not worth mentioning the other body parts men may wish to stimulate...

        The real question is how many of these will be glorified Ohmibod/Lovense clones for guys, and how many will involve two way motion sensing to approximate actual intercourse (vaginal or otherwise). And then it will come to the market to decide whether the latter is actually all that much more worthwhile than the former...it's entirely possible that people will decide that humping an input device isn't as much of a turn on as turning up dials to get their partner hot and bothered, either with or without reciprocity on their end.