Future of Sex
tagline
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Machinery of Joy: Is AI Already Making Sexwork Obsolete?

  • Tomorrow’s Programmable Matter Sextoys Will Be Everything We Want—Whenever We Want It

  • Men’s Only Club: Does the Synthetic Companion Industry Really Have a Sexism Problem?

  • Red States, Risqué Secrets: Who’s Really Obsessing Over Sex?

  • No Hentai, Please: Japan Prosecutes AI Porn Prompters

  • Out of Sight, Out of Touch? Sweden Moves to Ban Adult Cam Performers

  • Spin Me Right Round: Cupsland’s Twirl Does Everything A Stroker Should—And More

  • We-Vibe Sextech Report: Talk, Grab a Toy, and Enjoy

Future of Sex is supported by our readers. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Home > Sex Tech > The 6 Sex Tech Companies Facing Lawsuits for Patent Infringement

Remote SexSex Tech
Home›Remote Sex›The 6 Sex Tech Companies Facing Lawsuits for Patent Infringement

The 6 Sex Tech Companies Facing Lawsuits for Patent Infringement

By Jenna Owsianik
July 25, 2015
5607
9

Legal troubles may dramatically change the market for remote sex.  
A picture of a legal objects.
California-based company TZU Technologies is suing six sex tech companies for willful infringement of its patent that controls the remote sex market.

Called Method and device for interactive virtual control of sexual aids using digital computer networks, the patent covers the communication of sex toys over the Internet. It’s nicknamed the ‘268, which are the last three digits of its U.S. patent number.

According to the Vstroker [NSFW] founder who goes by the name Troy Peterson, TZU Technologies recently obtained the rights to the patent from his company Hassex, Inc. It’s unclear whether Peterson still owns Hassex, Inc., but we will have further information on the subject in the coming week.

The sex tech companies being sued include:

Comingle

This is not shocking news. In its June newsletter, Comingle said shipment of its Mod vibrator was delayed after receiving a cease and desist letter from a patent holder. We can only assume the company was referring to the ‘268.

However, in the same message the company made it seem like the legal woes had been resolved, saying “…it took up a lot of our time. We’re back on track now though.”

Comingle specializes in making open-source sex technology.

FriXion

Named as Happy Haptics, Inc. in the lawsuit, FriXion is an adult social platform that allows users to have online sex with one another through Internet-connected devices. It’s private and still in beta.

The most touted device it supports is the Novint Falcon, which was originally used in shooting games, but repurposed to hold sex gadgets like dildos and male sex sleeves.

FriXion co-founder Seth spoke to Future of Sex last year. He was full of optimism that his virtual sex system would move ahead, citing that he’d made agreements with patent owners who held wide-ranging rights to remote sex.

“Where people have failed, where we haven’t, is making the deals,” he said.

RealTouch

Trouble with the ‘268 is nothing new for the makers of the RealTouch. In 2010, Internet Services, LLC,  was sued for patent infringement by Hassex, Inc. and New Frontier Technologies Corporation.

The company was forced to stop selling the interactive sex device in 2014, five years after it hit the market. It couldn’t afford to continue licensing and manufacturing the product.

In the current round of lawsuits, both Internet Services, LLC and WMM Holdings, LLC are being sued for selling RealTouch products.

LovePalz

LovePalz, under the company Winzz, LLC, sells interactive sex devices for men and women. In October 2014, it launched a beta version of its adult social network called the LovePalz Club.

Vibease

Vibease is a wearable, smart vibrator controlled by Android devices and iPhones. The silicone sex device syncs its movements to go along with action in erotic audio stories.

Other defendants

Also being sued are Holland Haptics, which created a virtual handholding device called Frebble. Named with them is the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, which allowed the company to raise funds on its website

What does this mean for the future of remote sex? If TZU Technologies is successful, the above players will likely be locked out of the market, limiting what teledildonic products are available in a fledgling industry. Either way, the companies may face financial trouble after paying legal fees and have difficulty staying afloat.

However, whatever happens, the ‘268 patent is set to expire in 2018, meaning concerns over its stronghold on the development of sex tech could soon be history.

We will provide updates to the patent lawsuits as they develop. Also, stay tuned because in the next week Future of Sex plans to share more about the history of the ‘268 patent and shed more insight on the current legal situation.

Featured image source: succo

Tags#patents

Jenna Owsianik

Jenna Owsianik is a Canadian journalist and sex tech expert. Since 2014 she has been Editor-in-Chief of FutureofSex.net, the world’s leading publication on how technology is changing human sexuality, today and tomorrow.

Jenna is the primary author of the Future of Sex Report (2016).

Her expertise covers state-of-the-art sex technologies and the major fields driving innovations in intimacy: robotics, virtual reality, remote sex (teledildonics), immersive adult entertainment, human augmentation, virtual sex, and sexual health.

A trained journalist with a Masters of Journalism from The University of British Columbia, Jenna’s reporting has appeared on Futurism.com, Al Jazeera English, CTV British Columbia online, CBS Sunday Morning, CBS 60 Minutes, Global News, and CKNW Radio in Canada and the United States.

As a sex tech industry consultant, she is especially passionate about helping companies deliver accessible services and products to people with disabilities and other underserved communities.

Jenna also runs the sites SexforEveryBody.com, a sex-positive, body-positive online magazine that promotes inclusive sex education; and DisabledSexGuide.com, an adult resource on sex, disability, and erotica.

In 2013, Jenna won two Canadian Online Publishing Awards for her work on The Pain Project, a multimedia site on global access to palliative care.

She won second place at the 2011 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism’s Public Health category for her participation in the documentary Freedom From Pain.

Jenna has an Honors BA in Women’s Studies and Feminist Research as well as a French minor from The University of Western Ontario. She spent a year studying at L’Université Lumière Lyon 2 in Lyon, France.
Previous Article

TwerkingButt Combines Realistic Robotic Posterior and Erotic ...

Next Article

Hackable Dildo Company Seeks Prior Art and ...

Related articles More from author

  • An image depicting struggle over patent law.
    Sex Tech

    LovePalz must pay $56,100 in damages after losing ‘teledildonic’ patent suit

    July 21, 2016
    By Jenna Owsianik
  • Remote Sex

    Say Goodbye to the Mod: Patent Suit Ends Production of Open-Source Dildo

    February 23, 2016
    By Jenna Owsianik
  • KIIROO Onyx
    Remote SexSex TechVirtual Sex & EntertainmentImmersive Entertainment

    KIIROO CEO Toon Timmermans on Teledildonics, Patents and the Onyx

    December 22, 2014
    By Hugo Gray
  • Sex TechVirtual Sex & EntertainmentImmersive Entertainment

    Open Source Sex Tech: the DIY Edition

    December 11, 2014
    By Baxstar J. Ferguson
  • A Comingle device behind bars.
    Remote SexSex Tech

    Hackable Dildo Company Seeks Prior Art and Funds for Cybersex Patent Defense Case

    July 27, 2015
    By Jenna Owsianik
  • An image depicting struggle over patent law.
    Remote SexSex Tech

    Lovense Granted Patent for Tip-controlled Sex Toys

    September 19, 2017
    By Jenna Owsianik

9 comments

  1. Mira Manda 26 July, 2015 at 05:55 Log in to Reply

    Isn’t there some sort of legislation that prohibits “nonsense” patents in the united States?

    The whole IoT market would be dead if that was possible with other “device-classes” like fridges or heating — nobody would ever accept that somebody gets a patent for ” that communicates over the internet”

    Reading this patent it becomes obvious that it has no other substance than describing that a (motorized) device is connected to a computer via some sort of serial communication outlet and then controlled by a software that incorporates an internet socket — how can this be patent-worthy?

    Isn’t it possible that the above mentioned companies team up to try and find a judge who declares this patent void?

    • Jenna Owsianik 5 August, 2015 at 17:44 Log in to Reply

      That’s a really interesting point. I’m not sure of such legislation, but the U.S. Code says that conditions for patentability are novelty and non-obvious subject matter: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/35/part-II/chapter-10

      The route Comingle is going down, from what I know, is to say the patent isn’t for a novel invention and they have been looking for prior art to prove this: https://futureofsex.net/remote-sex/comingle-seeks-prior-art-and-is-raising-funds-for-patent-defense-case/ So far it looks like they have found some descriptions and images of what looks to be prior art for this “teledildonics” patent, but I’m not sure what a judge would say.

  2. WATCHINGYOU NOW 26 January, 2016 at 18:36 Log in to Reply

    The first over the internet devices were used by ifriends live cam models about 15 years ago. Referred to then as CyberDildonics. These communicated not with a socket but actually used a chat room type of plug in that allowed a user to control four boxes in the shape of a square and choose patterns and colors which in turn could allow changes in the energy flow from the batteries to the device.. The battery power of the toy the model would use, in this communication between the viewer and the mode’s toyl, could be manipulated via the toy’s “eye,. Basically this extra service that ifriends featured which was a battery operated vibrator that had a power interrupt and would decrease and could be controlled when connected via a small photoelectric eye. The eye would then allow pulses of power based upon what the “eye” saw. So a more intense darker color for example would then allow more power to the toy and the vibration increased. The four boxes could be set to pulse patterns and there by controlled over the internet by the viewer making waves of high and low pulses. Or rhythmic pulses . The models could charge more for this ability and the viewer had some control over the model and what kind of manipulation she would get. There were a few different available types of devices. One was an actual penis looking vibrator that would enlarge by an inch and retract which would also be manipulated. Basically the pace of the thrusts and the intensity of the vibration could be controlled or so was the idea. The person who invented this idea actually is the first idea that used an internet connection. So the company suing everyone is actually just a more advanced copy cat of someone elses idea anyway. The patent does seem at first glance to be a bit abstract for the technology guidelines. However it does not mention the use of other types of connections such as attaching a remote controlled device to the screen via wireless technology so I think there may be room to invalidate their claim.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • Dating & RelationshipsSex Tech

    Swiping Right on Danger: Dating Apps Enabling Repeat Offenders

  • Sex TechImmersive Entertainment

    From Feathers to Flesh: AI Can’t Handle Sextoy Holiday Shopping

  • UncategorizedVirtual Sex & EntertainmentVirtual Sex

    Speaking About the Ethics of Interspecies Virtual Sex

Virtual Lust is a 3D interactive sex game.
3DXChat
Discover the best virtual sex parties and 3D sex worlds.
  • TOP REVIEWS

  • Screenshot of a sexbot from adult entertainment game

    The Best Adult Games on Steam [UPDATED]

  • Screenshot of FeelConnect app future of interactivity intimacy available on Apple and Google Store

    The Best Sex Game Apps for Couples [UPDATED]

  • Project QT is the most popular RPG sex game at hentai sex game portal Nutaku.

    The Best RPG Sex Games [UPDATED]

  • Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    Review of the Best Massively Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    0
  • Harmony ai sex doll from RealDoll

    State of the Sexbot Market: The World’s Best Sex Robot and AI Sex Doll Companies ...

Fantasy sex game Dream Sex World lets you explore your wildest desires.
Multiplayer sex world Red Light Center continues to impress with its massive userbase and incredible sex graphics.
A blonde and light-skinned love doll face sppears next to the text Go now realdollxthe future is real.

Like Us on Facebook

Newsletter Subscription

Sign up for our monthly newsletter sharing the very best of the future of sex from our publication and others across the web.

DreamSexWorld offers a stunning XXX 3D world filled with incredibly interactive erotic experiences.

Like Us On Facebook

Facebook Pagelike Widget

RLC_ad_v2

Tweets by @FutureofSex
Future of Sex Report

Follow us

  • Home
  • About
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contribute
  • Story Ideas
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© 2011 - 2022 Future Exploration Network
This website or its third-party tools use cookies to improve user experience and track affiliate sales. To learn more about why we need to use cookies, please refer to the Privacy Policy.

By clicking the agree button or continuing to browse through the website, you agree to the use of cookies. Accept Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT