Virtual world property disposition after real-world occurrence

• US 20070088656A1
• Filed: 10/03/2005
• Published: 04/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Jung, Edward, Malamud, Mark, Lord, Robert, Levien, Royce, Rinaldo, John
• Granted Patent: US 7,720,687 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/184 Intellectual property management

Abstract

A method and system provides transactions and arrangements in virtual world environments. A user can participate in transactions to acquire virtual property and related virtual rights. In some implementations, real-world and virtual parties can be involved in possible transfers of various types of virtual property and virtual property rights.

Claims

1. A method of resolving virtual world property ownership, comprising:

identifying a virtual world property right in a multi-player virtual world environment, which virtual world property right has been acquired by a real-world party;

establishing confirmation that the real-world party is deceased; and

in response to said confirmation, transferring the virtual world property right to a designated successor party.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

making a determination that the virtual world property right is not subject to an adverse claim that would prevent said transferring the virtual world property right to the designated successor party.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said making the determination includes:

delaying or disqualifying said transferring based on one or more of the following types of adverse claim or defect;

real-world estate claim, real-world creditor claim, real-world contractual claim, real-world legal claim, real-world group claim, real-world family claim, prior real-world transfer, virtual world estate claim, virtual world creditor claim, virtual world contractual claim, virtual world legal claim, virtual world family claim, prior virtual world transfer, virtual world item expiration, item lost, item destroyed, item not separable, virtual world privilege expiration, voided right, rescinded right, forfeited right, item no longer identifiable, right not separable, group right vetoed by group, right no longer legally transferable, right no longer recognized, right no longer exercisable, erroneous death confirmation, forged authorization, improper authorization, misplaced authorization, jointly owned right, conflicting authorizations, transfer revoked, violation of oversight authority, change of virtual attributes, existing right does not match transferred right, existing description does not match transferred description, and third party consent denied.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

providing a virtual world notice indicating that the real-world party associated with a specified virtual world character or participant has been confirmed as deceased.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said providing the virtual world notice includes:

stating in the virtual world notice a deadline for receiving any adverse claim relating to the virtual world property right of the specified virtual world character or participant.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein said making the determination includes:

providing for a forfeiture or relinquishment of the virtual world property right in the event that the adverse claim cannot be resolved.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein said making the determination includes:

making an award of the virtual world property right to another party that is successful in making an adverse claim.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said transferring includes:

transferring the virtual world property right to a real-world successor party.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said transferring includes:

requiring a partial forfeiture of a portion of the virtual world property right prior to said transferring.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein said transferring includes:

requiring the real-world successor party to be a current participant in the virtual world environment before implementing said transferring.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

making accessible in a real-world environment a record that identifies the virtual world property right and the designated successor party.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said making the record accessible in the real-world environment includes:

making the record accessible to one or more of the following;

owner of virtual-world environment, operator of virtual-world environment, real-world party donor, party selected by donor, agent of donor, designated successor party, party selected by successor party, approved representative of real-world party donor, approved representative of designated successor party, secondary beneficiary, contingent beneficiary, joint beneficiary, parent of successor who is a minor, guardian of successor who is a minor, officer of successor entity, and officer of successor group.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein said making the record accessible in the real-world environment includes:

making accessible a record that includes an authorization for said transferring and a date of the authorization.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

making accessible in the virtual world environment a record that identifies the virtual world property right and the designated successor party.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said making the record accessible in the virtual world environment includes:

making the record accessible in the virtual world environment to one or more of the following;

owner of virtual-world environment, operator of virtual-world environment, real-world party donor, party selected by donor, agent of donor, designated successor party, party selected by successor party, approved representative of real-world party donor, approved representative of designated successor party, secondary beneficiary, contingent beneficiary, joint beneficiary, parent of successor who is a minor, guardian of successor who is a minor, officer of successor entity, and officer of successor group.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein said making the record accessible in the virtual world environment includes:

making accessible a record that includes an authorization for said transferring and a date of authorization.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

making a record of the authorization for said transferring, which record of the authorization includes one or more of the following transfer requirements;

secondary beneficiary;

group beneficiary, charitable beneficiary, joint beneficiaries, real-world party donor to be anonymous, disclose identity of real-world donor only after confirmation of death, subject to contingency, contingent on successor having attribute, contingent on successor not having attribute, contingent on successor having certain item, contingent on successor not having certain item, contingent on successor having related item, contingent on successor having right to acquire related item, contingent on successor having right to inherit related item, conditional transfer based on successor party'"'"'s age, conditional transfer based on successor party'"'"'s education, conditional transfer based on successor party'"'"'s marital status, transfer conditional upon acceptance by successor party;

transfer conditional upon timely acceptance, transfer conditional upon inspection by successor party, collective transfer of all virtual property rights of real-world party donor, transfer of multiple versions of the subject matter of the property right;

authorize duplicate virtual attributes or aspects to be transferred;

collective transfer of all virtual property rights to respective designated beneficiaries, transfer voided if successor party deceased, further transferability not authorized;

transfer to occur at given date even if real-world party donor still alive;

transfer conditional upon approval of third party;

transfer made to trustee on behalf of successor party, transfer made to trustee on behalf of beneficiary;

liquidating virtual world property right prior to transfer, obtaining liquidated virtual world value as subject of transfer, and obtaining liquidated real-world value as subject of transfer.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said making the record of the authorization includes:

allowing the real-world party to revise a previous authorization for said transferring.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein said allowing the real-world party to revise the previous authorization includes;

allowing the real-world party to make one or more of the following types of authorization changes;

revoke the authorization;

change the designated successor party;

substitute one or more new designated successor parties;

change the virtual world property right;

divide the virtual world property right, transfer multiple rights;

transfer multiple items;

add contingency;

identify one or more additional virtual world property rights;

change a beneficiary;

add one or more new beneficiaries;

add secondary beneficiary;

change a requirement;

add one or more new requirements;

add third party authorization;

add joint owner authorization; and

add group authorization,

22. The method of claim 19 wherein said making the record of the authorization includes:

requiring something of real-world value from the real-world party as consideration for making an initial authorization or making a revised authorization.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein said making the record of the authorization includes:

requiring something of virtual world value from the real-world party as consideration for making an initial authorization or making a revised authorization.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein said making the record of the authorization includes:

making a further record that identifies the virtual world property right and the designated successor party.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein said making the record includes:

maintaining the record of the authorization and the further record as confidential for a period prior to said establishing that the real-world party is deceased.

11. The method of claim I wherein said transferring includes:

transferring the virtual world property right to a virtual world successor party.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said transferring includes:

requiring a partial forfeiture of a portion of the virtual world property right prior to said transferring.

26. A method of enabling transfer of a virtual world property right, comprising:

providing a procedure for transferring a virtual world property right pursuant to authorization from a virtual world patron, which authorization is effective upon a real-world death of the virtual world patron;

maintaining a record of the authorization;

confirming the real-world death of the virtual world patron; and

transferring the virtual world property right to a successor party designated by the virtual world patron.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

requiring something of value as consideration for said transferring the virtual world property right.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein said requiring something of value includes:

requiring something of real-world value from or on behalf of the virtual world patron.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein said requiring something of value includes:

requiring something of virtual world value from or on behalf of the virtual world patron.

30. The method of claim 27 wherein said requiring something of value includes:

requiring something of real-world value from the successor party or other beneficiary.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein said requiring something of value includes:

requiring something of virtual world value from the successor party or other beneficiary.

32. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

sending one or more of the following types of communication, notification or information request to the successor party and/or other beneficiary regarding said transferring the virtual world property right;

identity confirmation;

acceptance of transfer;

tendering required consideration;

response deadline;

confirmation of death of real-world party;

applicable restriction;

preliminary requirement;

compliance with applicable restriction;

non-compliance with applicable restriction;

compliance with preliminary requirement;

non-compliance with preliminary requirement;

virtual world status, attribute, level, possession, log, other contract, other obligation, clan membership, group membership, relationship, skill, and avatar.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein said sending one or more types of communication includes:

sending the communication, notification or request prior to said confirming the real-world death.

34. The method of claim 32 wherein said sending the one or more types of communication includes:

sending the communication, notification or request during a time period between said confirming the real-world death and said transferring.

35. The method of claim 26 further comprising

sending a communication to a representative of the deceased donor party and/or to the successor party and/or to another beneficiary, which communication includes notification of a preliminary requirement prior to said transferring.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein said sending the communication includes:

sending the notification of one or more of the following types of preliminary requirements;

verification of identity of the designated successor party;

verification of age of the designated successor party;

consent by designated successor party to virtual world participation agreement;

consent by designated successor party to retain the virtual world property right for a given period of time; and

consent by designated successor party to pay a transfer fee, payment of fee, consent by real-world third party, consent by virtual world third party, consent by real-world group, and consent by virtual world group.

37. The method of claim 26 wherein said providing the procedure includes:

providing the procedure for transferring the virtual world property right pursuant to authorization from one or more of the following types of virtual world patrons;

real-world person, real-world person under eighteen years of age, real-world person over eighteen years of age, real-world family, real-world group, real-world organization, real-world entity, real-world third party, virtual world character, virtual world group, virtual world player, virtual world participant, virtual world owner, virtual world operator, and virtual world third party.

38. The method of claim 26 wherein said transferring includes:

transferring the virtual world property right to one or more of the following types of successor parties;

a real-world person, a real-world person under eighteen years of age, a real-world person over eighteen years of age, a real-world family, a real-world group, a real-world organization, a real-world entity, a real-world third party, a virtual world character, a virtual world group, a virtual world player, a virtual world participant, a virtual world third party, virtual group at a virtual world location or setting, real-world group in a particular real-world location, real-world group in a particular real-world region, active participant at particular real-world time, and active participant at particular virtual world time.

39. A computer-implemented system comprising:

a virtual world in which a patron of the virtual world may participate and acquire a transferable right regarding a virtual aspect or attribute;

a module to facilitate authorizing a disposition of the transferable right to a designated successor party, which disposition will be triggered by a real-world death of the patron; and

a record of any required information including an applicable term or condition required for the disposition to occur.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein said record includes:

a transfer-related tag or flag associated with the patron.

41. The system of claim 39 wherein said record includes:

a transfer-related tag or flag associated with the transferable right.

42. The system of claim 39 wherein said maintaining the record includes:

providing a transfer-related tag or flag associated with the designated successor party.

43. The system of claim 39 wherein said record includes:

a database that identifies the patron, the transferable right, and the designated successor party.

44. The system of claim 43 wherein said database includes:

read-only access to the patron.

45. The system of claim 43 wherein said database includes:

read/write access to the patron.

46. The system of claim 43 wherein said database includes:

read-only access to the designated successor party.

47. The method of claim 43 wherein said database includes:

read/write access to an owner or operator of a virtual world.

48. A computer program product having encoded instructions for executing a process, wherein the process comprises:

providing a virtual world environment where a participant is enabled to interact with another participant or with a non-player entity;

facilitating an arrangement to transfer a virtual property right to a designated successor party, which transfer is contingent upon a real-world death of the participant; and

making a record of the arrangement to transfer.

49. The computer program product of claim 48, further comprising:

a transmission carrier medium for encoding the instructions.

50. The computer program product of claim 48, further comprising:

a storage carrier medium for encoding the instructions.

51. The computer program product of claim 48 wherein said facilitating the arrangement to transfer includes:

allowing a transfer to a virtual world successor party.

52. The computer program product of claim 48 wherein said facilitating the arrangement to transfer includes:

allowing a transfer to a real-world successor party.

53. The computer program product of claim 48 wherein said process is encoded on storage and/or signal transmission media accessible to multiple virtual world patrons having logon capabilities at different locations.

54. The computer program product of claim 48 wherein said process is encoded on storage and/or signal transmission media capable of functional operation on localized computer apparatus accessible to an individual virtual world patron.