Microsoft patents drop-in split-screen

[Reasonable]

slowmo said:

FreeTalkLive said:
It doesn't matter slowmo. The patent wouldn't hold on, anyway. I'd be shocked if some European court didn't rule in favor of Sony or Nintendo if MS sued them. Heck, even when MS doesn't do anything wrong it loses cases in Europe.

So if it holds up in a US case but not in Europe does that then mean we'll see cut down versions of some games between regions.  I doubt anyone on here is qualified to say whether a patent can hold or not, my money is that its a specualtive effort that they hope will stick but you never know how these will pan out for sure.

I'm pretty sure that in Europe the patenting of software is much more restrictive in US - i.e. you can't patent a vague technique, you have to have detailed code that is demonstrably unique and your own product.  I could be wrong, but from my days in (commercial) software I seem to remember this was the case.

From the descriptions with this patent it does seem pretty vague and I'm not sure would be upheld in Europe.

Personally I think current US patent law for SW is too lose, allowing for attempts to try and gain restrictive control via pretty vague descriptions.  But hey, I'm European, and tend to lean more towards heavier controls of commercial companies and their business practices.