Sex Toys News

An Australian pharmacy has come under fire from a strident feminist campaign group for selling a hand-held sex toy on their website.

A description for the toy said: You'll be be her first and only. This virgin is waiting to be touched for the very first time.

The Virgin Pussy Palm Pal was soon removed from the retailer's website after complaints from Collective Shout. The group's director of operations, Coralie Alison, told Daily Mail Australia:

We got a tip off about the product and then I emailed them this morning.

Collective Shout encouraged their followers to whinge on social media so the Daily Mail had plenty of angry tweets to include in the story, eg:

We believe chemists are supposed to be selling products with medicinal and health benefits rather than promoting paedophilic fantasies for profit.

Chemist Warehouse atrocious that you're selling Virgin Palm Pal. 'Tight as a virgin

Recently, a company called Tzu Technologies, LLC began suing makers of sex toys for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,368,268 . This resulted in more than a few news stories (and probably a few snickers as well). But the case also shows how our broken patent system is preventing innovation in many spaces, including those we don't traditionally think about. Looking closely at the patent, and specifically at what Tzu Technologies actually claims to own, it is clear that this patent, regardless of its exciting subject matter, deserves to be called stupid.

Tzu Technologies' patent, titled Method and Device for Interactive Virtual Control of Sexual Aids Using Digital Computer Networks is a patent related to teledildonics . Essentially, computer controlled sex toys.

Tzu Technologies recently sued a bunch of small startups in the sex toy space, claiming they infringed this patent. Comingle, for example and according to their website, is a four-person team that is developing open-source sex technology. Also sued was Kickstarter, presumably for allowing another defendant, Holland Haptics, to raise money for their product the Freeble .

As this 1993 Chicago Tribune article shows, the idea of remotely stimulating a partner was nothing new in 1998 (the year the application for the patent was filed). Nor was it unknown how to do it. Howard Stern (in)famously engaged in some of his own teledildonics in the 1980s, that was later reenacted [NSFW] in his 1997 movie Private Parts .

Given this history, you might expect that, in 1998, patent applicants would need to come up with some new and non-obvious way of using a computer to control a sex toy. But like many patents that we have labeled Stupid, that's not what happened. Or at least, that's not what the inventors claimed .

Below is claim 8 of the patent, which Tzu Technologies seems to be asserting. This claim is ridiculously broad. Annotations, in bold, have been added to show just how broadly it can be read:

8. A stimulation system comprising:

[a] a hand-operable input device [a microphone] for generating a command signal [electrical signal] in response to an input [sound wave] received from a first user;

[b] a first user interface [the radio broadcast system] connected to said input device [the microphone] , said first user interface generating a control signal [radio waves] based upon the command signal [electrical signal] ;

[c] a second user interface [a radio] remotely located from said first user interface [the radio broadcast system] , said second user interface receiving the control signal [the radio waves] ; and,

[d] a stimulation device [a stereo speaker] receiving the control signal [the radio waves] from said second user interface [the radio] , said stimulation device imparting stimulation to a second user in response to the control signal [you get the idea] .

Ultimately, claim 8 of this patent is nothing more than the idea of teledildonics, dressed up in input devices signals and interfaces. That's what makes this patent, and these lawsuits, so frustrating. There was nothing novel, nonobvious, or even patentable about this claim. It never should have issued. Doing it with a computer (literally) does not make something patentable.

More and more, everyday items are incorporating software and networking technology. Unfortunately, that means more and more everyday items are at risk of being said to infringe overbroad, vague patents that never should have issued. As this patent shows, the problems with the patent system have the potential to impact many diverse fields, and until we find a way for small companies to quickly and efficiently shut down these patent trolls, we will continue to hurt innovators who are merely trying to make life more interesting.

Hundreds of sex toys have been spotted hanging from power lines across a US city.

The white and bright orange dildos have appeared in recent days across Portland, Oregon, sparking laughter, blushes and a lot of photos.

So as to be able to throw them up and wrap them round cables, the phallic toys have been strung together in pairs.

Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement spokeswoman Lisa Leddy said the department had received numerous reports of the x-rated sights. A spokesman for public utility Portland General Electric said he did not believe the products posed a fire hazard.

Update: All is revealed

21st July 2015. See article from vice.com

The woman responsible for stringing up dildos all throughout Portland has finally explained herself. In an anonymous interview with VICE , she says that she and her friends wound up with over 10,000 defective dildos after a local sex shop realized they couldn't sell them. So they did the only thing they could think of doing with 10,000 dildos... they threw them all over the city's power lines. She said:

It had to be done. I have no idea why, but it had to, she says. Dick-tossing is an exercise in happiness. It was just a fun, hilarious thing to do.

A woman caused a minor traffic accident recently because she was pleasuring herself with a sex toy. The woman, described as being in her 30s, was reportedly driving her Mini when she suddenly lurched forward and shunted a stationary van.

The driver of the van later explained that it was his first day on the job and when he was later called into the company office, based in Cirencester, he feared he was about to be fired.

However his bosses told him that he wasn't to blame as the incident had been caught on CCTV, and that the film had caught something... interesting. Woman crashes her car while pleasuring herself with a sex toy. The CCTV footage apparently showed the woman exit her vehicle holding a pink Rampant Rabbit sex toy and hurriedly doing up her trousers.

To the casual observer, the black flag with unfamiliar white symbols looked out of place among the colourful outfits and banners at London's gay pride march.

CNN certainly thought so, running photographs of the flag above a banner headline, saying: Isis flag spotted at gay pride event. The segment was billed as an exclusive and the network even lined up one of its top security analysts, Peter Bergen, to discuss its appearance.

However the flag was a spoof, with the apparent Arabic script actually being pictures of dildos, dongs and butt plugs.

Lucy Pawle, a CNN journalist, didn't spot the subtleties and went on air being surprised that no-one else had reacted to the flag. She said:

This man dressed in black and white waving what appears to be a very bad mimicry of the Isis flag, but a clear attempt to mimic the Isis flag, the black and white flag with the distinctive lettering.

She also said that she had alerted the police to its presence.

The news clip has now been deleted.

The author of 50 Shades of Grey is being sued over inadequate sex lubricant.

Last week, Tania Warchol filed a class-action lawsuit in California claiming that the Fifty Shades of Grey Come Alive Pleasure Gel For Her failed to deliver on its promise of sexual gratification and improved orgasms. (The suit names author Erika Mitchell (EL James) and Delaware corporation Lovehoney as defendants.)

Warchol is suing on behalf of everybody who bought this over the last four years, and is seeking a refund and punitive damages. She is claiming that the sex gel violates California's unfair competition and false advertising laws. The complaint reads:

Based on Defendants' representations, Plaintiff believed the Product has powerful aphrodisiac qualities and would increase her sexual pleasure as advertised. The Product did not deliver the purported benefits.

One of the biggest hits at the recent AVN Expo in LAs Vegas was The Teddy Love.

He's a bear affixed with a protruding tongue that vibrates at a high frequency when you press on its right ear. The Teddy Love has a very specific niche, it retails for about a $100, and seems to intrigue everyone he meets.

Toy developers Wendy Adams and Robert Harmon described it as a paradigm shift. Adams said:

It's for men and women. You can leave it out in plain sight. And you can cuddle with it. The best part about it is it doesn't have to come up for air.

After months of gestation, the Teddy Love was released in late December. More than 2,000 have been sold since, according to the company.

Taiwan's media is reporting on a project underway to build a sex theme park. It is part of a nearly 40-mile coastal Romantic Boulevard. The Boulevard will feature some less scandalous stuff: heart-shaped arches, a glass church, scenery for wedding photos--but it will also feature the sex themed park. It's likely to look something like a similar park in South Korea called Jeju Loveland, which has statues of things like giant genitals and people having threesomes.

Called the Romantic Boulevard's finale, the park will also have educational videos and sex toys, as well as what that site calls interactive facilities.

There will also be a hotel nearby, just in case visitors want turn their feelings into actions, an official, Shih Chao-hui, says. He explains the reasoning behind the whole idea: We want people to fall in love with Taiwan as well as fall in love while in Taiwan .

The central government's tourism department isn't thrilled, but the organisers hope that the promise of sexy revenue will bring them around.

The adult virtual world Red Light Center has confirmed a virtual reality version of the site that will use the Oculus Rift headset

Utherverse Digital is making its X-rated virtual world Red Light Center compatible with Oculus Rift. The virtual world lets you visit bars, hotels and clubs for virtual adult fun

The naughty online destination, based on Amsterdam's red light area, will effectively become the first massively multiplayer online game available for the virtual reality headset.

Utherverse CEO told VentureBeat in an interview:

Porn and sex and social interaction is universal. It appeals to almost everybody. This is yet another example of porn and sex leading technology forward.

Red Light Center works like Second Life or any other virtual world - letting you create an avatar and interact with other players as well as non-playable characters (NPCs). The site originally launched in 2005 and, according to Shuster, has around 25 million registered users who pay a monthly subscription.

Award-Nominated leather brand Rouge have teamed up with renowned retailer Nice 'n' Naughty and revered pro-kink expert Jackson Rocco in a unique three-way partnership that caters for the ongoing upsurge in demand for fetish and BDSM products.

Using Rocco's internationally-acclaimed android app of The Book of Filthy Sex Games , readers will for the first time be able to access directly specifically chosen Rouge and Nice 'n' Naughty BDSM gear and toys featured in the app's sixty-nine session 'recipes' for fun and safe kink play.

Rouge ranges featured include its luxury padded ankle cuffs, blindfolds and adjustable wrist to neck restraints, all made using exquisite, quality leather from trusted tanneries. Nice 'n' Naughty items include bestseller essentials like vibrators, plugs, lube and massage oils. App users will be able to visualise and learn exactly what item of equipment each kinky practice requires while also offering the chance to shop and order instantly from their smart-phones.

The collaboration will not only be promoted by in-store 10,000 flyers and tags but be buttressed by live workshops on safer adult play, as well as regular blogs on jacksonrocco.com. Additionally, Nice 'n' Naughty shoppers will also be able to claim exclusive free apps (originally priced £6.99) of The Book of Filthy Sex Games through Google Play, benefiting from a definitive guide to kink heralded as 'a ginormous achievement' by fetish industry critics, and containing a 'wealth of information worth the price of the first section alone.'

A spokesperson for leather manufacturer Rouge Garments UK highlighted the increasing desire for quality bondage gear in the mainstream and praised the bridge-building between experts from the adult industry and the kink scene uniting to provide a modern and educational approach for buyers.

Retailers Nice 'n' Naughty are no strangers to providing customer satisfaction. Founded 15 years ago , they were voted the UK 's Best Adult Retail Chain for six years and the only adult industry firm to receive the Investors in People accreditation. Director Trish Murray states that Nice 'n' Naughty was formed:

"With one clear aim. To offer the customer a comfortable environment to shop that will stimulate their imaginations, without boundaries or taboos. All our members of staff have the knowledge and training to ensure the customer has the best advice and service in the adult industry".

On Nice 'n' Naughty teaming up with Rouge and Jackson Rocco , Trish Murray adds:

"We have a vast array of products that fulfil desires from vanilla to kink, and to be involved with The Book of Filthy Sex Games app, offers all its readers the perfect space and products to learn, explore and grow. With the pending release of Fifty Shades of Grey, we have seen a further increase in the demand of quality BDSM items, and we have therefore decided to help our customer further explore their desires with this partnership".

As the fetish world can sometimes appear daunting to newcomers it makes sense for the positive kink championed by the man nicknamed the 'real-life Christian Grey' Jackson Rocco to ally with such established names in the adult industry. "I couldn't be happier', says Rocco:

"For the people I represent it's about care, education, affordability and quality. We have newbie's looking to try things out and experts looking to invest in well-made and robust products. The Rouge stuff looks and feels amazing, while Nice 'n' Naughty couldn't be more helpful. And as both firms are celebrated for their attention to detail and customer service, I have peace of mind that our campaign to give adult players the chance to realize their wildest dreams will continue to happen in the most supportive way possible. All round, this is a very cool project."