[영문] Korean Game Giant NCsoft Facing More than One Thousand Legal Disputes

By Park Sae-jin Posted : February 26, 2009, 14:02 Updated : February 26, 2009, 14:02

   
 
Photo: Korean game giant NCsoft is reportedly faced with more than 1,000 legal cases in Korea as of February 25.

NCsoft in Korea, the maker of the online game Lineage, is faced with a number of class action suits against the company.

Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission(CDSC) in Korea reported that about 1,100 complaints against Korean game giant company NCsoft have been registered as of February 25 ever since the commission started the procedure for the settlement for consumer disputes.

The commission announced that the number of complaints might go up to 1,300 because the deadline for applying for the settlement has been extended till 28th of this month and it is highly likely to see the number increasing due to the fact that complaints can be registered even after the deadline. 

In fact, the korean computer games publisher NCsoft is quite familiar with such a legal disputes not just in Korea but also worldwide. 

The Korean gaming giant finds itself entangled in a patent dispute with U.S.-based Worlds.com, which filed a suit last week in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. 

Worlds.com, a developer of online technologies, claims to have invented a ``system and method for enabling users to interact in virtual space'' back in 1995 and was granted a patent for the concept in 2007.

Critics argue that the patent, based on the loose concept of ``highly scalable architecture for a three-dimensional graphical, multi-user, interactive virtual world system,'' could theoretically put every 3D online application under legal threat. 

A Seoul-based patent lawyer said Worlds.com is apparently a ``patent troll,'' or an opportunistic company that enforces its patents on those who infringe aggressively despite lacking the intention to manufacture and market the product. 

NCsoft is one of the world's biggest online game companies by revenue, thanks to the success of titles such as ``Lineage'' and ``Guild Wars.'' 
 
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