Worlds to Appeal to Federal Circuit on PTAB Rulings, Claims

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Dec 20, 2016) - Worlds Inc. (OTCQB: WDDD) intends to file an appeal of recent Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) rulings to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding Worlds' seminal technology that has been fundamental to the development of massively multiplayer online role-playing gaming (MMORPG) into a $20-billion dollar industry. Worlds' current investors plan to exercise their warrants to fund the appeals and ongoing business operations.

"The fact that our investor group has chosen to exercise warrants which were part of the agreement that funded the IPR that validated six claims demonstrates their confidence in Worlds' intellectual property and the opportunity to potentially strengthen Worlds' legal position," stated Thomas Kidrin, Worlds Inc. CEO.

Kidrin noted, "As part of the funding, Worlds will effectuate a reverse split, as was authorized in our last proxy, to facilitate additional warrant coverage to cover the PTAB appeal, operations and developing additional strategic opportunities. With the issuance of these new warrants, if exercised absent a settlement or alternative financing structure, we expect it it be sufficient to fund operations for approximately two years and enable us to pursue additional opportunities with potential strategic partners in that timeframe."

As previously announced, The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) validated six patent claims by Worlds Inc. Claims 4, 8, 13, and 16 of Patent 7,181,690 B1 - IPR2015-01268 and claims 5 and 7 of Patent 7,493,558 B2 - IPR2015-01269. Worlds will be represented before the Federal Circuit by Wayne M. Helge of Davidson, Berquist, Jackson & Gowdey, LLP who handled the IPR before the PTAB and in the federal district court litigation by Susman Godfrey L.L.P. 

"Our intellectual property has been validated by the PTAB and we are committed to pursuing all avenues available to maximize our patent portfolio and shareholder value," stated Kidrin. "The validation of the six claims by the USPTO PTAB enables Worlds to resume our Federal court case against Activision Blizzard et al. However we believe it is our best interest to appeal and possibly reverse a number of the invalidity rulings at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Therefore we have continued the stay of the current Activision/Blizzard et al litigation pending a final outcome of the Inter Partes Review (IPR) and appeal process at the Federal Circuit."

Worlds' MMORPG technology patents were subject to an Inter Partes Review (IPR) due to Bungie Inc. challenging the validity of Worlds' patent portfolio at the USPTO, causing the federal district court to put Worlds' federal patent infringement lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, Inc., Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and Activision Publishing, Inc. (Activision Blizzard et al) on hold pending the outcome of the IPR.

More information on the lawsuit and Worlds' patents can be found on the Worlds.com website.

About Worlds Inc.:
Worlds Inc. is a leading intellectual property developer and licensee of patents related to 3D online virtual worlds. The Company has a portfolio of 10 US patents for multi-server technology for 3D applications. The earliest of these patents issued on an application filed November 12, 1996. A provisional patent application, serial number 60/020,296, was filed on November 13, 1995. These patents are related to each other and disclose and claim systems and methods for enabling users to interact in a virtual space. Visit www.Worlds.com.

About Susman Godfrey L.L.P.
Susman Godfrey L.L.P., a law firm with more than 80 lawyers, was recently named one of the top litigation boutiques in the country by The American Lawyer. The firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in a broad range of commercial litigation matters, including antitrust, patent and intellectual property, securities and corporate governance litigation, energy, commercial and products liability, bankruptcy and financial restructuring, accounting malpractice, arbitration, climate change, and international litigation. The firm has offices in Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York. For additional information, visit www.susmangodfrey.com.

About Davidson, Berquist, Jackson & Gowdey, LLP
DBJ+G ranked as one of the top 15 law firms or corporate legal departments measured by the number of representations in IPR, Covered Business Method, and Post-Grant Review proceedings before PTAB in 2015. Docket Navigator's 2015 Year in Review identified DBJ + G's Wayne Helge as a top 10 attorney in the PTAB.

Forward Looking Statements
This release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to Worlds Inc. that are based on the beliefs of Worlds' management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events including estimates and projections about its business based on certain assumptions of its management, including those described in this Release. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Additional risk factors are included in the Company's public filings with the SEC. Should one or more of these underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as "hoped," "anticipated," "believed," "estimated," "should," "preparing," "expected" or words of a similar nature. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.