It’s always a murky and confusing mess when two companies have a disagreement, one filled with lawyers and with fine lines of distinction. ZeniMax, the parent company to Bethesda that bought Id Software in 2009, have staked their claims against Oculus VR, stating that Oculus have been using technology which they do not own.
It all hinges on John Carmack, who first got involved with the Oculus project in 2012 before becoming the CTO in August 2013 and eventually left Id in November of last year, stating that they were not allowing him to integrate Oculus Rift support into their upcoming games as a reason.
What ZeniMax is essentially claiming is that all of the work that Carmack did for Oculus VR while he was still working at Id is actually their property. This ownership was ostensibly outlined in an NDA that was signed by Oculus CEO Palmer Luckey, and that defined the role Carmack was allowed to take.
In a statement provided to Engadget, ZeniMax said:
Oculus has used and exploited ZeniMax’s technology and intellectual property without authorization, compensation or credit to ZeniMax. 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. ZeniMax believes it is necessary to address these matters now and will take the necessary action to protect its interests.
Meanwhile, Carmack tried to reassure fans of the Oculus Rift that this would not really impact the system, via Twitter.
No work I have ever done has been patented. Zenimax owns the code that I wrote, but they don't own VR.
— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) May 1, 2014
It’s potentially quite a grey area that this argument has landed in, but it certainly seems to be quite an opportunistic and timely move from ZeniMax, given Facebook’s recent purchase of Oculus VR. We’ll see how things unfold, but it’s doubtful that this will actually affect the development of the Oculus Rift and will mainly serve to get some lawyers paid.
Source: Engadget
lambchop
I always thought his eyes were too close together…..
TSBonyman
It will be interesting to see what effect this will have , if any, on Facebook’s new acquisition.
hazelam
if Zenimax owns the code, then they have a case right?
if he created the code for Zenimax with the prior understanding that they would own it, he can’t then go and use it again with another company can he?