LAS VEGAS, Nev.—A patent infringement lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court Monday by Hassex Inc. and New Frontier Technologies, alleging that Internet Services LLC and WMM Holdings violated their patent issued in 2002 for a "Method and Device for Interactive Virtual Control of Sexual Aids Using Digital Computer Networks" by selling and marketing the RealTouch device.
The patent at issue is No. 6,368,268. According to the complaint, Hassex, a Missouri corporation, owns the patent and licensed it to Colorado-based New Frontier in 2008. The complaint further states that AEBN, which shares the same North Carolina address as WMM Holdings, “in January 2009, introduced the REAL TOUCH at AVN’s Adult Entertainment Expo,” and that the company has sold the product since its introduction.”
The plaintiffs are alleging that the continuous sale of RealTouch “demonstrates a deliberate and conscious decision to infringe the ’268 Patent or, at the very least, a reckless disregard of Plaintiff’s patent rights.”
According to the Abstract from the patent application, "An interactive sexual stimulation system has one or more interfaces. Each user interface generally comprises a computer having an input device, video camera and transmitter. The transmitter is used to interface the computer with one or more sexual stimulation devices, which are also located at the user interface. In accordance with the preferred embodiment, a person at a first user interface controls the stimulation device(s) located at a second user interface. The first and second user interfaces may be connected, for instance, through a website on the Internet. In another embodiment, a person at a user interface may interact with a prerecorded video feed. The invention is implemented by software that is stored at the computer of the user interface, or at a website accessed through the Internet."
Plaintiffs are seeking disgorgement (i.e. repayment of ill-gotten gains) and treble damages.
A copy of the complaint, along with the patent application, can be accessed here.
