Last week Jim Galvin, Jook Leung and myself traveled to meet Ford Oxaal in
Albany, NY. The purpose of our meeting was to better understand Oxaal's
intentions regarding the VR community now that he has settled with iPIX
over use of his intellectual property (IP). After a long legal battle, it
is now IPIX who is licensed by Oxaal, and on a non-exclusive basis.
IPIX paid a cash settlement to Oxaal.
As you know, intellectual property in the form of patents can be
frighteningly complex and murky. Oxaal holds nine issued patents and
several pending applications, including U.S. Patent 5,903,782, "Method and
Apparatus for producing a three-hundred and sixty degree spherical visual
data set," as well as 5,684,937; 5,936,630; 6,118,454; 6,157,385;
6,243,099; 6,252,603; 6,271,853; and 6,323,862.
Even upon multiple re-readings of this patent and his other patents, the
average reader will have difficulty deciphering exactly what the patents
cover. All his patents are U.S. patents. Their claims are subject to
interpretation, and possibly -- litigation.
Oxaal claims he invented, among other things, the concept of
"capturing, storing, and processing full-surround data sets", and
that the voluminous prior art presented during his years of
litigation with IPIX, -- who vigorously tried to invalidate Oxaal's
IP -- backs up his claim.
In the next few weeks, Oxaal will be releasing his first VR software
product with a license that will grant permission to commercially use his
IP as well as "immunize" his customers from suit by third parties, including
IPIX. Oxaal also indicated that he is willing to license his technology
to members of the VR community including hardware/software vendors and
even creators. He stated his goal is to achieve a "reasonable level
of profit for
his life's work and pioneering contributions to the field of immersive
imaging", and to help foster the growth of the entire industry in the long
term.
Oxaal is aware of the spirited defense on his behalf put forth by the
international VR community regarding the claims by IPIX, and he said the
positive energy helped him get through some difficult times. During our
visit, Oxaal expressed an earnest desire to work with the VR community to
move the technology forward. He is definitely not into the "click" fees,
and feels such a model stifles growth.
On a cold and snowy day, three individual VR creators journeyed to meet
Oxaal. Expecting an older professorial gentleman, we were surprised by
the person we met: a middle-aged, sharp witted, father of three small
children, with a hearty laugh.
I fully believe that the International VR community can expect more surprises.
Michael Quan
27 January 2003
{DISCLAIMER: The views presented are my own and do not represent other
organizations or companies.}
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