Balfour Beatty sued in Texas over augmented reality patents
Balfour Beatty has been accused of allegedly infringing patents relating to a virtual augmented reality system of the US District Court of the Western District of Texas.
Virtual Immersion Technologies (VIT) filed a complaint on November 13, claiming that the company had infringed its patent, number 6,409,599, entitled “Interactive Virtual Reality Performance Theater Entertainment System”.
VIT said it acquired ownership of the patent, which covers technology that resolves technical problems related to virtualised interactive technology, in August 2016.
The inventions covered by the disputed patent, said VIT, enable parties “to interact in a virtual environment in real time with one or more live performers and participants”. It held that the technology covered by the ʼ599 patent enabled a system and method for delivering information “which provides three-way immersive interactive communication amongst and between” participants.
For more than ten years, VIT had shipped its virtual reality systems to five continents to a market of an estimated 30 million people worldwide, said the filing.
Additionally, the filing held that the technology created by the inventors has been recognised and awarded on an international scale, winning ‘Best New Product” and “Best of Show” at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions global convention in Atlanta in November 2000, and again for ‘Best of Show’ in 2002 in Orlando, as well as national awards for graphics and creativity in the print media industry.
VIT claimed that Balfour was using an infringing virtual reality system to “reduce project overruns, cut costs and increase margins,” and that this “speeds up construction, offering real potential for savings”.
“Balfour supports the creation, maintenance and utilisation of an immersive virtual reality system and practice method, which permits live performers and participants to interact with each other and the environment...,” said the filing.
According to Balfour Beatty’s website, the company uses augmented reality to explore and test future construction designs prior to building and to create simulations when people cannot be onsite.
Over the past two years the western district of Texas has gained notoriety in US legal circles for becoming a litigation hotspot. In its suit, VIT held that it was justified in filing its complaint in the district.
“Having purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting business within this district, defendant Balfour should reasonably and fairly anticipate being brought into court here,” the filing said.
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