Sony sued :eek:
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Joined: Jul 2004
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From: NJ
Sony sued :eek:
Sony has been ordered by a U.S. court to pay about $90 million in damages and to halt game console sales in the United States in a patent infringement case against Immersion, the company's game unit said Monday.
Sony Computer Entertainment said it disagreed with the decision by a federal district court in California and would appeal to a higher court.
SCE said it will continue U.S. sales as the suspension order--which covers PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles, two game controllers and 47 software titles--will not go into effect before the appeal and because Sony will be paying compulsory license fees to Immersion, an SCE spokeswoman said.
Immersion, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of tactile feedback technology, claimed Sony Computer Entertainment infringed on its technologies that make a game controller vibrate in sync with actions in games, the Japanese game maker said.
The court's decision confirmed a ruling by a California jury last year that ordered Sony to pay $82 million in the case. The amount was raised to slightly more than $90 million due to interest.
Sony Computer Entertainment said it disagreed with the decision by a federal district court in California and would appeal to a higher court.
SCE said it will continue U.S. sales as the suspension order--which covers PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles, two game controllers and 47 software titles--will not go into effect before the appeal and because Sony will be paying compulsory license fees to Immersion, an SCE spokeswoman said.
Immersion, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of tactile feedback technology, claimed Sony Computer Entertainment infringed on its technologies that make a game controller vibrate in sync with actions in games, the Japanese game maker said.
The court's decision confirmed a ruling by a California jury last year that ordered Sony to pay $82 million in the case. The amount was raised to slightly more than $90 million due to interest.
no more ps2????
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Originally Posted by RB26DETT
" halt game console sales in the United States " is the part i'm worried about.
Also, this is being appealed, so it's unlikely any real difference will be noticed in the next year or more. And the patent they got seems so flimsy anyway. They couldn't sue Nintendo, even though it's the exact same thing. An unbalanced weight controlled by a motor that's activated by the game software... Seems like too broad of a thing to really patent.
I bet this will be shot down in the appeals. Perhaps even the patent could be altered to prevent Immersion from filing more lawsuits against companies that make vibration controllers since the idea itself has been around for many many years anyway.
I missed Sean
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Fairfield/Bridgeport CT
i'm waiting for someone to sue them oer the dead pixels on PSP's
it's the whole idea that they'd sell something that they know is defective.... when it is shown neumorus times that even at that pixel density, dead pixels are not common in retail LCD screens
it's the whole idea that they'd sell something that they know is defective.... when it is shown neumorus times that even at that pixel density, dead pixels are not common in retail LCD screens
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From: glass case of emotion
Originally Posted by umop-apisdn
So, Sony "stole" the idea for the vibrating controllers. OK, let's assume this is true. Why would this kill the PS2 console instead of just the DS2?
also, games would have to be re-sleeved to remove the rumble feature notification. (when you look at the back of a game cover, you'll see the features : 1 or 2 player, memory card, dual shock, online, etc ...)