If they do not, the patent cache they hold chills any potential competition for fear of developing a market being ripped out from under them.
If they do not, the patent cache they hold chills any potential competition for fear of developing a market being ripped out from under them.
I'd be interested in finding out the major VR patent holders other than Oculus and what they are sitting on; it has been argued here and elsewhere that the requirement for deep pockets for patent suits was one factor driving the deal with Facebook.
Rephrased for clarity
What are they going to patent?
Having a gyroscope in your head? A screen attached to your eyes? low persistence screens(valve idea)?
However, John Carmack is on the record as being an extremely outspoken opponent of software patents. He's also a smart guy. So, chances are a) he's already thought of and discussed the patent issue with FB, b) FB aren't intending to own the entire VR sector with patents (or at least, if they are, they did a damn good job of lying about it) and c) any attempt by them subsequently to patent everything that's not nailed down will have considerable internal resistance.
None of this rules out the "FB patents key elements of VR, VR is screwed" scenario, though.
a) 2 billion
b) Zuck lying about anything?
c) The hordes of FB employees who have quit over previous privacy violations