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."
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Monday August 20 2018, @09:22PM (4 children)
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)
A world run by script kiddies, like, so duh.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Touché) by ikanreed on Monday August 20 2018, @09:59PM
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)
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).
Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 21 2018, @06:41PM
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.