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Sony fined $90.7 million, faces injunction
Mute
post Mar 30 2005, 08:01 PM
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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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DivA
post Mar 30 2005, 09:45 PM
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somehow, i see this as opportunity for a small company to cash-in...sony breaking the law? sure, i'll believe that the day president bush is finally removed from office for his stupidity..

... <.<

*shrugs* the industry is too big...there's no way that any US court order will succeed in halting the production of sony video-game products indefinitely; foolishness in a nutshell.. but i will say that if they succeed, i'll not be happy.. >.>
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donkeybeatz
post Apr 1 2005, 12:43 PM
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Well I just got this from PSO-W and it looks pretty serious. I'm not sure if its an April Fools joke but they already have one up on their site hehe.

As I'm sure some of you know, Sony was recently fined in court for $90 million and asked to stop selling the Playstation and Playstation 2s which infringe on the patents, or rather the dualshock controllers do. Also more than 40 games are being pulled from shelves.

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with us? Well Phantasy Star Universe is planned only for the PC and the PS2 at this time. And with the PS2 now no longer being sold in the USA, there's little chance of the Phantasy Star Universe being translated for PS2 users.

However there is now hope. Sony in a new plan to keep the playstation consoles alive has begun to recall its units from stores and will now be removing the controller from the box and slapping a new price of $129.99 and slapping a sticker on the box stating "No controller included, please purchase at store." However its doubtful the 40+ games will be allowed back on the market.

Edit: Yes. stand alone controllers are being recalled as well.

No PSU and PS2 makes Donkey go crazy.
I reaaaalllly hope its a bad joke they are pulling.


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Knightsword
post Apr 1 2005, 02:50 PM
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it isn't a joke, this news has been on slashdot for a few weeks now. Sony stole a patent and now they are paying the price.

edit- heres a link to the most recent article
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0...tid=123&tid=155
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donkeybeatz
post Apr 1 2005, 04:49 PM
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I know that part is not a joke. I meant the part about Phantasy Star Universe.


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unitself
post Apr 2 2005, 10:48 AM
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I read some more about this.
Yes, the lawsuit is real, but the halting of sales and pulling of games isn't. Well, it IS, but Sony is allowed to continue it's business while they appeal the fine.
My thinking is very much like DivA's... Sony is a large company. Very large. There is no way that anyone can stop them. I seriously doubt that this will effect any new sales or new development for Sony.
I am positive that PSU will be just fine for a PS2 release.


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DarkEpyon
post Apr 2 2005, 10:13 PM
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Sony wipes its ass with $90.7 mil, so I don't think this would be all that damaging to them.


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unitself
post Apr 4 2005, 08:59 AM
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... 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
beigelaugh.gif


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