Microsoft chalks up 5,000th patent

By Steve Malone

Posted on 8 Mar 2006 at 10:59

Microsoft has announced that it has chalked up its 5,000th patent at the US Patent Office.

The Patent number 6,999,083 covers technologies which allow games console users who are online to watch a game in progress. That's right, not to play a game online, just to watch it from anywhere in the world. Microsoft says that it expects the new patent to be deployed in new Xbox 360 games.

The patent not only covers the ability to view a game in real time but also highlights, action replays, and different camera views of the action. Microsoft says that by using viewing controls, a spectator can control one or more virtual cameras to select different viewing angles or an automated camera control to frame the action. Death matches will never be quite the same again.

Doubtless the next stage will be for someone to come up with a patent that allows people to charge pay-per-view to watch online games, with the rights to recorded games being sold to Sky TV.

Despite a multi-billion dollar R&D budget, Microsoft is still a long way behind IBM when it comes to bothering the beleaguered staff at the US PTO. Big Blue has a patent portfolio of some 25,000. According to IpIQ, Microsoft now ranks in the in the top 10 in the number of patents it files and is number one when it comes to the 'Current Impact Index', which is a measure of the importance of a company's patents by examining how often its US patents are cited as prior art.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is looking to add to its collection at a rapid pace. Microsoft has over 7,000 patents worldwide and is aiming for a target of filing for 3,000 patents per year.