An interesting article appeared on the front page of the iRacing website on Tuesday (4th October) regarding a patent lawsuit that iRacing defined as “meritless” in the title.
Per the court documentation, the patent claims by the plaintiff, Integrated Technology Solutions LLC, were found to be invalid, and such findings cleared the way for iRacing to motion for dismissal, which was granted by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on 20th September.
The complaint against iRacing was filed on 9th September 2021 and it was terminated on 21st September 2022, those dates just over a year apart. RaceSimCentral.net reported on the initial filing back in November of last year, but as RSC’s Tim Wheatley reported, iRacing wasn’t the only simulation that was hit with the lawsuit.
505 Games, the parent to Kunos Simulazione, developers of the Assetto Corsa brand, as well as Bandai Namco, which published the Slightly Mad Studios brand of Project CARS racing titles, were also given the same patent lawsuit that iRacing was.
In both of the other’s suits, the cases were shut down fairly quickly. Bandai Namco had theirs closed before the year ended in December of 2021 while 505 Games had their’s dismissed in January of 2022.
What is this patent lawsuit about, though? Well, as it turns out, Integrated Technology Solutions, LLC claimed that a patent that they filed for is based around the idea of how a dynamic race track and the cars that race on them works in a multiplayer setting. That’s what I’m getting, at least.
In the iRacing article, it’s written that Integrated Technology Solutions, LCC “claimed the abstract idea of a racing videogame that simulates track conditions on a vehicle’s performance rather than technology to implement the idea.”
It’s a pretty cool system, the dynamic track. It works really well in the case of dirt racing, where grooves will change and the cars will handle differently because of how it was either slicked off or if dirt was thrown into it. There’s a lot more about the lawsuit and terminology in the legal notes if you want to thumb through them. I’ve got enough of a headache trying to decipher exactly why this even is a thing.
Apparently, the court had the same sentiment, ‘why was this even a thing’ was likely asked, and for all cases, the claims were dismissed. Now, all of us asphalt oval iRacers can all go back to wondering when iRacing will bring back their dynamic track to the way it used to work before the v7 tire model was implemented.
