The new '386 Patent? Brian Sloan trying to patent EroScripts

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Hi everyone!

Who the fuck is Brian Sloan, you might ask? Well, Brian is a sex toy designer known best for employing questionable legal and marketing techniques to sell mediocre masturbation devices - most notably his “auto blow” series of toys. And to me it looks like he is now also entering the Patent Troll business, and what that can mean to a community like this or the industry as a whole has very well been documented in the earlier case of the '386 patent killing RealTouch - the very device that started the entire scripting scene as we know it today.
So, here’s the patent application:

Synchronized video annotation and control system for sexual stimulation devices

What is claimed is:

  1. A system for creating synchronized video control data for sexual stimulation devices […] display video content comprising depictions of sexual activity oil the display; receive motion input data from a user corresponding to a movement shown in the video, wherein the motion input data track the movement shown in the video over time and wherein each motion input datum is associated with a playback time of the video content; and store the motion input data as metadata associated with the video content.

→ This is basically OpenFunScripter / any other haptic authoring tool.

  1. […] a video synchronized device controller comprising a second plurality of programming instructions stored in the memory […] causes the computing device to: retrieve the video content and the metadata; convert the metadata to device control data, the device control data comprising a position of an electronically controllable moving part of a sexual stimulation device for each motion input datum and playback time; display the video content; and as the video content is displayed, continuously determine a current, playback time of the video content and transmit the device control data for that current playback time to the sexual stimulation device.

→ So this is basically ScriptPlayer (and any other videoplayer supporting sex toy control via scripting)

  1. […] comprising a crowdsourcing portal comprising a third plurality of programming instructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor, wherein the third plurality of programming instructions, when operating on the processor, causes the computing device to: establish a user portal for users to create user accounts; and allow users to annotate videos using the video annotation system.

→ So this is basically THIS VERY FORUM

  1. […] wherein the crowdsourcing- portal is further configured to allow users to establish an online store for sale of their video annotations to other users.

→ So this is basically Realsync

Claim 5 then describes a method of tagging videos by genre and preference, and claim 6-10 are exactly the same claims like 1-5, but not for the system design, but for the actual methods.

Of course, at this time, it’s unclear if this patent application will be granted, and if yes, if it’s going to be used in a patent troll way. But at the very least, I would bet my behind on Brian’s next toy being the “Autoblow Interactive”.

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Surely there is prior art; these tools already exist, and are in the open domain… So he doesn’t have anything novel or inventive to patent, unless he filed before OpenFunScripter / ScriptPlayer / Eroscripts / RealSync were created as far as I can see. In the EU, he wouldn’t be granted a patent, I don’t think…

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This is exactly the case as far as I can tell.

It is the same as if someone tried to patent RC cars for example.

If anyone else can chime in though we would all appreciate the information.

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Tbh I doubt this will go anywhere.
Where the patent exists the market will always have piracy.
I would argue their attempt would actually be risky considering they could be sued for patent trolling.
Considering the magnitude of prior art this is financial suicide.

Additionally the funscript license is apache2

Challenging that will be a considerable amount of legal fees.

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I hope this doesn’t go anywhere.

Im no expert or claim any real experience but I have heard of stuff getting slipped by and I hope bc this hobby is so niche that it does not fly under the radar.

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Patent trolls have always been a pain. Thankfully judges almost always err to prior art and punish patent trolls.

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