Pierce Law IP Library Celebrates Inventorship from Patent Models to Video Technologies

Pierce Law IP Library Celebrates Inventorship from

Patent Models to Video Technologies

Ralph H. Baer:

The Father of Video Games

Pierce Law Celebrates Inventorship from Patent Models to Video Technologies

The Dramatic Law Story

• Video Games by Inventor Ralph Baer– Inception– Reduction to practice– Prosecution of the famous patents– The stealthy activity of competitors– The long patent prosecution battle

between corporate giants


From the beginning…

• Ralph Baer– The man– The patriot– The corporate inventor– The tireless crusader to protect his

inventions


1922-1938

• Ralph H. Baer was born in Southwestern Germany in 1922

• In 1938, however, Baer left Germany for the U.S. with his parents via Holland


1940

• In 1940, Baer graduated from the National Radio Institute as a radio service technician


1940-1943

• For the next three years, Baer ran three radio service stores in New York City– He serviced all types of

home and auto radios, early FM radios (42-48MHz), and TV sets (RCA TRS-9 and 12)

– In addition he built PA systems


1943

• In 1943, Baer joined the U.S. Army, where he served one year stateside and two years overseas in Europe during World War II


1943-1946

• While in the U.S. Army, Baer was assigned to Military Intelligence attached to Eisenhower’s Headquarters but was stationed in France

• During his service, he became an expert on military small arms and returned home in 1946 with 18 tons of foreign small arms to be put on display


1946-1949

• After his service in the Army, Baer attended American Television Institute of Technology (ATIT) in Chicago. – Baer graduated with BS in

Television Engineering - first time TV Engineering degree was conferred anywhere.


1952

• In 1952, Baer married Dena Whinston in New York.– Together they had three children, one daughter and two

sons.


1949 to 1956

• After completing school in 1949, Baer began working at Wappler, Inc. From there he went on to work at Loral Electronics and Transitron, Inc. before joining Sanders Associates in 1956.– While working at Sanders Associates, Baer

began his work on video games, which eventually led to the successful patenting of the first video game.


2006

• In February 2006, President George W. Bush presented Ralph Baer with the National Medal of Technology for his pioneering work in the video game industry


Ralph Baer’s Firsts


1949

First to demonstrate a hands-off, voice-switched Intercom for home use


1954

• First to develop a practical low-level AM Modulation System for amateur radio and commercial radio transmissions – This halved the size of

a typical power supply typically required for normal AM Plate Modulation Systems.


1965

• First to develop an electronic organ with a splittable keyboard– Lowest 12 keys were

switchable to become either a cord section or the normal low end of the keyboard


1965

First to develop a Talking Altimeter


1967

• First to demonstrate an Interactive Video Quiz Game:– Coded “spots” on-

screen contain RIGHT/WRONG data which provides immediate feedback to student/viewer.

– A novel way to make linear video tape presentations into interactive video training, education or game tapes.


1967

• Here is a sample of one of the first guns made to play an interactive video game quiz


1967

• First to build a two-player Video action Game (chase and gun game)– This ‘480 patent is

the Pioneer Patent of the Video Game Industry

– 1st Filing:1/15/68


1967

• First to demonstrate Ping-Pong and other Sports Video Games


1969

First to develop a Parachute Dereefing system


1969

• First to design and build a programmable, multiplayer game, The “BROWN BOX”


1969

• First to demonstrate a Golf Video Game using actual golf ball (mounted on a joystick) and a putter


1970

First to use multi layer printed circuit techniques to mass produce Capacitive Dynamic and Magnetic Core Memory boards using multilayer p.c. techniques


1973• First to couple video game to audio tape player

for natural sounds under game control


1973

• First to show Video Branching in real time on a linear medium (e.g. on video tape)


1974

First to nest & extract data optically from video

presentation in real time


1975

First to allow captions and other A/N data or graphics to be introduced into a TV set via its antenna terminals (provides

captions in ordinary TV set)


1977

• First to develop a programmable & remotely controllable record changer– Its objective was to make

remote control and automatic band changes possible for ordinary record changers to make “space age” products out of them.

– All of this did not become a standard feature of consumer audio products until the advent of CD audio players


1977Patents related to the Programmable Remotely Controlled Record Changer


1978

• First to nest data on videotape/disc where that data is related in real time to locations and characteristics of on screen pictorial information


1978


1978

• First Precision Rifle Shooting Video Training System for use with large screen (projected) imagery. – Resolution high

enough to resolve single scan line and five microsecond image width


1979

• First to develop a truly successful microprocessor controlled hand held sequence game, Milton Bradley’s “Simon”


1980

• First to design a Video 21 Gaming Machine – Used a B&W monitor

ad colored Acrylic overlays to cut cost.

– Started at Gamex and completed at Bally- Midway


1980

• First to draw interactive symbols on a TV screen during video game play


1981

• First to patent and demonstrate Instant Replay for video games


1983

• First to propose glove like devices (e.g. hand puppet) as video game or interactive VCR game controller


1983

• The patent issued in 1985 for a hand puppet as a video game


1984

• First to digitize faces, etc. for use in video game program– Digital circuitry built

for first video game using Digitized Faces of “famous” persons (e.g. NFL Quaterback)


1984

• Drawing shows a Video Camera to place gamer’s face on the screen of a video game


1984

• First to develop an interactive VCR game with real time branching to 2-4 screens and 2-4 audio tracks nested in video signal


1985

• First to develop MultiView real time instant branching to different venues of the same action (e.g. football game)


1987

• First to develop a doll that could hold a book or look at a flashcard and read the text of the page out loud– Doll swivels head from

side to side while reading remote bar code nested illustrations and made of IR absorptive ink.

– IR beam focused into vertical line segment scans the code, reflects code to IR receiver and µprocessor/Voice synthesizer


1987

• First to develop a plush bear capable of interacting with characters on screen during VCR presentation while under control of data nested in video signal


1987

• In 1989, the patent issued for a plush bear interacting with a character on screen


1993

• First to develop interactive, RECORDABLE talking books for Golden Book


1995

• First to develop & license a line of electronics for GI Joe to Milton-Bradley


1997

• First to develop a Talking Speedometer and Odometer for bicycles (Milton-Bradley’s ) “BikeMax” (1997)


1996

• First to design recordable Talking Picture Frame for 1-4 photos & voice messages and Talking Compass


2000-2003

• First to develop a Talking Tape Measurer and other Talkin’ Tools licensed to Hasbro/Tonka


The Lawsuits Surrounding Ralph Baer’s Inventions


1966

• Ralph Baer’s idea of video games first materialized on paper in 1966– The legal record

pictured here, which described various video games using a TV set, would become an important document in several litigations down the road


1967-1969• Over the next few years, Baer transformed what was

written on paper into the first video games playable through a TV set– Prototypes of the game consoles are pictured below. Eight

generations of consoles led to the first video game set for home use.


1971

• Sanders licensed the Brown Box to Magnavox Company along with other pending patent applications– As part of the license, Magnavox was responsible

for going after any infringers


1972

• By 1972, Magnavox Company had developed Odyssey from Baer’s Brown Box

In May of 1972, Odyssey was first shown to the public and went on sell later that summer


1972

• It was during a demonstration that Nolan Bushnell, who later developed Atari, learned of Odyssey– During the demonstration, Bushnell played

Odyssey’s ping-pong game hands-on– By late fall, Bushnell and Ted Dabney had

developed the Atari Pong game


1975

• No action was taken against Bushnell and Dabney for three years– This was due to the early state of video

games where the potential was just beginning to be realized

– In addition, at this point the cost to go after Bushnell and Dabney would exceed the returns


1976

• Magnavox finally decided to go after Atari and Bushnell in a suit joined with Chicago Dynamics, Bally, and Seeburg– The parties joined in an attempt to

invalidate the patents held by Sanders and licensed to Magnavox

– Soon after the litigation began, Atari opted out of the suit and took a license from Magnavox. The other parties continued.


1976

• During trial, Baer would spend several days on the witness stand as a fact witness explaining the ins and outs of video games


1976• The attorneys for Magnavox would prove to find a winning

strategy– They argued that Baer’s patent was based on two objects touching each

other and causing one of the objects to do something– Also they argued that one of the object must be manually controlled

while the other was machine controlled– The key language is shown below from claim number 2


• This strategy was very successful as it encompassed nearly all video games at the time– Magnavox would go on to win cases against

Atari, Mattel, Activision, Nintendo and Sega– Each lawsuit ended in the same manner, with

the other party obtaining a license from Magnavox

– Over $100 million dollars in license fees were paid by these companies


1922 to Present

The Father of Video GamesFrom his first interests in electronics, to his disclosure

of video games, to the Brown Box Ralph Baer has shaped the video game industry


The End

Entertainment & Humor

Pierce Law IP Library Celebrates Inventorship from Patent Models to Video Technologies