Oculus fights back against claims it stole virtual reality technology

Video game company ZeniMax is claiming it owns at least some of the code that powers Oculus Rift, the virtual reality headset. As Oculus was just bought by Facebook for $2 billion, the claim raises questions: opportunistic claims or murky legal waters?

|
Jae C. Hong/AP
Show attendees play a video game wearing Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets at the Intel booth at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Just weeks after Facebook purchased virtual-reality headset maker Oculus for more than $2 billion, another tech company has stepped in saying the groundbreaking technology is only partially Oculus’ creation.

Video game company ZeniMax is claiming intellectual property rights to Oculus’ signature Rift headset, saying that a former ZeniMax employee, who now works for Oculus, took the technological framework with him when he left the gamemaker. While it's unclear whether the accusation will hold up, it does raise questions about Oculus’ meteoric rise to start-up fame, and highlights the potential value of virtual-reality technology.

Back in 2012, John Carmack was a programmer at ZeniMax Media. According to ZeniMax, it was there that he came up with some fundamental code that now powers Oculus Rift, and used it to collaborate with Oculus founder Palmer Luckey on the ski-goggle-like headset that was demoed at a games convention. Mr. Carmack later left ZeniMax, and signed on as Oculus’ chief technology officer in August.

Oculus’ response to the claims has been swift and blunt.

"It's unfortunate, but when there's this type of transaction, people come out of the woodwork with ridiculous and absurd claims,” says Oculus in a recent statement. “We intend to vigorously defend Oculus and its investors to the fullest extent."

"Despite the fact that the full source code for the Oculus SDK is available online (developer.oculusvr.com), ZeniMax has never identified any ‘stolen’ code or technology,” it adds in another statement.

However, this isn’t the first time the two companies have tangled. Back in 2012, ZeniMax and Oculus were in talks to give ZeniMax a small stake in the company due to intellectual property issues, but the talks fell through (though Oculus denies this). In addition, a version of ZeniMax’s game “Doom 3” created specifically for virtual reality headsets was supposed to ship with the original Oculus Rift, but that also fell through after ZeniMax wasn’t happy with monetary negotiations.

Though Oculus is standing its ground, ZeniMax seems ready for a fight.

"ZeniMax and Oculus previously attempted to reach an agreement whereby ZeniMax would be compensated for its intellectual property through equity ownership in Oculus but were unable to reach a satisfactory resolution,” says ZeniMax in a statement. “ZeniMax believes it is necessary to address these matters now and will take the necessary action to protect its interests."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Oculus fights back against claims it stole virtual reality technology
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Horizons/2014/0505/Oculus-fights-back-against-claims-it-stole-virtual-reality-technology
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe