When I saw the headline my first thought was "more TechCrunch hyperbole." But it's true. The patent's title really is "Method and system for creating an interactive virtual community of famous people”.
Anyhow, that's how I read it too: all the independent claims seem to start with (a) selecting a field of endeavor and (b) compiling a list before doing stuff creating the community, which is not how Twitter works. If that's all there is, Twitter should ask the judge to sanction VS' lawyers for bringing a frivolous claim.
to be honest the when I followed the link I expected to find another opportunity for TechCrunch bashing. i was pleasantly surprised to discover it was just a great headline on a well-reported article.
Anyhow, that's how I read it too: all the independent claims seem to start with (a) selecting a field of endeavor and (b) compiling a list before doing stuff creating the community, which is not how Twitter works. If that's all there is, Twitter should ask the judge to sanction VS' lawyers for bringing a frivolous claim.