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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: 2) by takyon on Monday August 20 2018, @08:53PM (3 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday August 20 2018, @08:53PM (#723910) Journal

    Teledildonics couldn't come into its own without VR.

    Getting your security/privacy fucked can be a fetish. Exhibitionism?

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  • (Score: 2) by TheReaperD on Tuesday August 21 2018, @12:01AM (2 children)

    by TheReaperD (5556) on Tuesday August 21 2018, @12:01AM (#723969)

    Are you kidding, I know a few girls that would post online the connection details just so strangers could watch/participate. Doesn't require breaking a single law if they're sharing it of their own will. Of course, this could open up a new avenue of "revenge porn" where ex-boyfriends/girlfriends post the connection data of their ex's sex toys which they're almost certainly going to have to throw away as most will likely have such crap security things as no or hard-coded passwords, non changeable IPs, etc.

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    • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Tuesday August 21 2018, @12:11AM (1 child)

      by Snotnose (1623) on Tuesday August 21 2018, @12:11AM (#723975)

      Are you kidding, I know a few girls that would post online the connection details

      Don't you mean you wish you knew a few girls......

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      • (Score: 2) by TheReaperD on Tuesday August 21 2018, @11:31PM

        by TheReaperD (5556) on Tuesday August 21 2018, @11:31PM (#724457)

        In my particular case, happily no. I was no longer one of those geeks that couldn't get a woman, no matter how desperate I was anymore past age 22. Before then, that's another story. You can watch Revenge of the Nerds for my teenage years to that point.

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