Sony fined $90.7 million, faces injunction

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Sony fined $90.7 million, faces injunction

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Mute

Mar 30 2005, 08:01 PM

Post #1

Sunbro

Group: Paragon Caste
Posts: 753
Joined: 16-April 03
From: 'Murica
Member No.: 25

In case you haven't seen it already:

QUOTE

US District Court favors San Jose tech company Immersion; Sony injunction to halt American sales of PS2s and affected materials.

Three years ago, Northern California technology company Immersion Corporation brought a suit against Sony Computer Entertainment and Microsoft Corporation claiming patent infringement of its proprietary technology used in the controllers for the companies' home consoles: the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.

Microsoft settled out of court with Immersion in 2003, avoiding messy legal proceedings for $26 million, which also got Microsoft a 10 percent stake in Immersion.

Sony, on the other hand, left the decision up to the courts, a move that appears to have cost the company a serious chunk of change. Last Thursday, United States District Judge Claudia Wilken ordered the electronics giant to pay Immersion $90.7 million in patent infringement damages. The fine stems from the $82 million awarded to Immersion by a jury's decision on September 21, 2004, plus prejudgement interest of $8.7 million tacked on last week, which Sony unsuccessfully objected to.

The tiff involves Immersion's technology that creates the "rumble" feature that causes controllers to vibrate in sync with events in games. The court found in favor of Immersion's claims that Sony's Dual Shock controllers, the standard sticks for Sony's PlayStation and PlayStation 2, and several of its games infringe on two of its patents.

The Oakland, California, court also ordered an injunction stating that Sony is to immediately stop selling the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, both versions of the Dual Shock controllers, and 47 games found to use the vibration technology, including Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Gran Turismo 3. The injunction only affects sales in the United States.

Sony immediately appealed the decision and has been granted a stay of permanent injunction, allowing Sony to sell its products as normal during the appeals process. However, Sony will have to pay a licensing fee to Immersion for the duration of the stay.

Original post:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/03/28/ne...rd_ps2_headline

Donkey linked me to a news article about this a day or two ago and I thought it was a pretty big news story. I'm sure Sony will somehow find a way to settle with Immersion out of court but the ruling on the case was pretty damn steep. Imagine if they weren't granted the stay. I just hope the end result doesn't end up hurting gamers in the end.

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Replies

unitself View Member Profile	Apr 4 2005, 08:59 AM Post #2
green and square Group: Paragon Caste Posts: 897 Joined: 19-June 03 From: Austin, TX Member No.: 49	... and I had better be right because my wife is buying me a PS2 for my birthday in two weeks. Talk about coming late to the party! hahahaa --------------------

Posts in this topic

Mute Sony fined $90.7 million, faces injunction Mar 30 2005, 08:01 PM

DivA somehow, i see this as opportunity for a small com... Mar 30 2005, 09:45 PM

DJ_Donkey Well I just got this from PSO-W and it looks prett... Apr 1 2005, 12:43 PM

Knightsword it isn't a joke, this news has been on slashdo... Apr 1 2005, 02:50 PM

DJ_Donkey I know that part is not a joke. I meant the part a... Apr 1 2005, 04:49 PM

unitself I read some more about this. Yes, the lawsuit is r... Apr 2 2005, 10:48 AM

DarkEpyon Sony wipes its ass with $90.7 mil, so I don... Apr 2 2005, 10:13 PM

unitself ... and I had better be right because my wife is b... Apr 4 2005, 08:59 AM

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