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By now everybody who is interested in intellectual property plays in the stock market has heard of VirnetX (VHC) and Vringo (VRNG). I would like to discuss another potential rocket stock patent play company - Worlds Inc (WDDD.OB). Before looking at Worlds Inc let's do a quick "cliff notes" summary of VirnetX and Vringo's legal history and historical stock prices to set the stage:

1) VirnetX - VirnetX defeated Microsft (MSFT) in 2010 in a jury trial and was awarded $105M in damages - Microsoft settled for $200M shortly thereafter under the threat of having triple damages applied due to willfully infringing on VirnteX's technology. In 2012 VirnetX defeated Apple (AAPL) in another jury trial and was awarded $368M in damages for Apple's past infringement. The judge is soon to render a decision on future royalties owed to VirnetX by Apple. VirnetX has signed licensing agreements with Microsoft, NEC, Aastra, and Mitel (MITL). VirnetX also has another court case coming up in early March 2013 against Cisco (CSCO), Siemens (SI), and Avaya in the same courtroom where it defeated Microsoft and Apple with the same judge presiding. VirnetX's stock price in January 2010 was under $3 per share - it now sits at $34.10 as of closing 1/11/2013.

2) Vringo - In November 2012 Vringo defeated Google (GOOG), America Online (AOL), Gannett Company Inc, Target (TGT), and IAC Search and Media, Inc. in a jury trial as they were found to be infringing on Vringo's patented search method technology. Many have speculated that when the presiding judge renders his final decision regarding past damages and future royalties that Vringo could take home over $500M in damages. Vringo has also filed three suits in Europe against Chinese handset and telecom equipment maker ZTE for infringing on patents purchased from Nokia (NOK). The Google and ZTE lawsuits are just the first salvo fired by Vringo - there are many other possible infringers out there not only for the search technology but also for the Nokia patents. Vringo's share price has traded between $.68 and $5.73 over the last 52 weeks and could easily explode to double digits as they continue to successfully assert their intellectual property in various courtrooms around the world, win large damage awards, and rake in future royalties.

If you had purchased VirnetX and Vringo shares early on, before they had successfully asserted their intellectual property in court, you would be sitting on 500% - 1000% gains.

Now let's take a look at what I think may be the next "10-Bagger" patent play:

Worlds Inc.

Business Biography from Worlds Inc website:

Worlds is the pioneering platform in 3D virtual communities and rich immersive environments. Launching in 1994, Worlds leverages its patented proprietary technology in partnership with brand leaders in specific market segments to offer members multi-user environments that have interactive Avatars, rich media graphics, text chat, voice-to-voice chat, video and e-commerce.

Worlds Inc has a portfolio of six U.S. patents and one "notice of allowance" for multi-server technology for 3D applications. They sued Activision Blizzard (ATVI) in federal district court in Massachusetts in March of 2012 for allegedly infringing on Worlds Inc patents. Activision's World of Warcraft® and Call of Duty® video games were named in the lawsuit as infringing on Worlds Inc proprietary technology. The law firm that has taken the case on contingent is Susman Godfrey L.L.P. with the lead counsel being Max Tribble. Tribble has a very successful and extensive history prosecuting intellectual property cases against tech giants such as Microsoft, Dell (DELL), IBM (IBM), and Oracle (ORCL) just to name a few. The fact that Susman Godfrey L.L.P. and Max Tribble are taking this case on contingency, and suing for "willful infringement" is a sign that Worlds Inc has a strong case.

The World of Warcraft® and Call of Duty® of duty franchises for Activision are significantly responsible for a large percentage of more than $4B per year in total revenues for Activision. If Worlds Inc secures a jury verdict in its favor from Activision the award for past damages and future royalties could be very large and would certainly dwarf World Inc's current market cap of approximately $18.5M. Without even considering past damages, if Worlds Inc secured a future running royalty rate of only 2% from Activision that could easily eclipse $80M per year. Now think about all of the other companies with Massive Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games that could be on World's radar.

The Markman Hearing in the Activision case has been scheduled for June 27, 2013 and as you can see in the chart below the stock has already hit some radars and has started to move with increasing volume. I believe the stock will continue to march higher in its well defined uptrend channel as the Markman date approaches.

(click to enlarge)

This is a ground floor opportunity as the stock currently trades at $.24 per share and I believe if Worlds Inc secures a jury win against Activision this could be the next patent play "10-Bagger". This summary was not meant to be an in depth analysis of the legal case for Worlds Inc against Activision. I would suggest potential investors to start their due diligence by visiting here to read the pacer court documents. There is also an active discussion forum here.

Disclosure: I am long WDDD.OB, VHC, VRNG. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: This article is my opinion and intended to spur thought and discussion. This article is NOT a substitute for your own extensive due diligence and does NOT qualify as investment advice. DO NOT BUY OR SELL STOCKS BASED ON THIS ARTICLE. I do not short stocks nor do I invest in options.