Posted Jul 15, 2006 at 03:37AM by Alaric S. Listed in: Off Topic Tags: Sony, patent, VAIO, semiconductor, Immersion Corporation
Ó

lawsuitLooks like Sony lawyers are due back in court. After Immersion won more than $90 million for its Dual Shock patent suit last March, another company, Agere Systems is taking Sony through the legal circus.

According to the semiconductor company, Sony committed patent infringements on eight products, including the PSP, PS2, PS3 (based on announced specs), VAIO computers, Handycams, Walkman players, Memory Stick Duos, and Location Free TV. The technology being contested are the LAN technology and tungsten plugs, among other things.

The lawsuit claims Sony willingly infringed on the patents and - here's the scary part - Agere wants to see Sony's books so it can determine how much money they can wring from the electronics giant. Sony denies the charges, naturally, and claims some of the patents issued by Agere omitted important information when it filed for them. Does that means some of the patents were filed properly but Sony used them anyway?

According to lawsuit-magnet Sony, it has the rights to use seven of the eight patents through a 1989 cross-licensing deal with AT&T and Lucent (whose microelectronics group became Agere Systems). Sony believes the patents in question are invalid and wants the case flushed down the judge's toilet. This is not the first time Agere sued Sony. By the way, Sony counter-sued Agere last month and demanded a jury trial.

Looks like a job tailored-made for Denny Crane.


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48 Comments


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   by Ragarnok - 2006-07-15
 » .

Are they going to pull the semiconductors out of the PS3 too now? ;)

   by df (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » I hope so!

Sony is always screwd...

   by OMFG!!!! (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » Sony, Ur Rude!!!!

Sony, stop copying ideas, breaking laws and stealing others patents!!!

Sony, take a look at NINTENDO (or atleast microsoft!!!)

And start playing fairly !!!

   by HORRAY SONY IS CRUSHED....AGAIN (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » WOOTAGE

LOL
#3 if sony looks at nintendo or microsoft they will just steal their ideas too!

   by FloW3184 (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » They already did steal:

1. the way nintendo is triing to revolutionize the gaming industry via the new controller.
(lets take the snes controller and make 2 shoulder buttons on each side... hmmm... now we need some more grip...
ah... the n64 has an analog stick... lets make 2 of them on our controller... so it is cooler! ...what, their controller is rumbling?
hm.... nintendo has some kind of motion sensing... lets do this too, but STAY CHEAP IN PRODUCTION!! So we can be more profitable)
2. xbox live?

   by PSmonkey - 2006-07-15
 » to FloW3184

Yeah but heaven forbid sony copys something. Yet we have good ole nintendo who copies nobody right?
*rolls eyes*

Gues what, sony's exsact concept for the ps3 controller exsisted in a 3rd party ps1 controller long before the Wii ever exsisted on paper. Oh no nintendo gets credit first.

Not to mention the same concept exsisted in a microsoft controller for pc called the sidewinder.

   by PSmonkey - 2006-07-15
 » to FloW3184

Oh yeah forgot to mention nintendo's most recent copy.

Oh yeah that wonderful DS & it's touch screen. Yeah no handheld before had one *rolls eyes*.
Pda, Cell phones, Zodiac & even the Gamecon (a portable gaming system) had touch screens to them. All long before the DS.


   by Reneid Klein (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » Get your facts straight, #6-7

Tilt sensitivity (PS3/Sidewinder) and MOTION sensitivity (Wii) are two different things. That's like comparing riding a bike to driving a car.

And DS is--to my knowledge--the first portable system with two screens, one being a touchscreen. It's not the same thing as what you mentioned.

Just because an MP3 Player plays music doesn't mean it copied off of CD players. It's different, and more advanced, technology.

Besides, Nintendo came out with this stuff years after what you mentioned. Sony threw together that PooS controller like two months after Nintendo announced what the Wiimote does.

And even if you DO want to still count what Nintendo did as copying, it is still MUCH, MUCH, MUUUUCH less than what Sony copied from Nintendo. Pretty much everything standard or videogame related today originally came from or was popularized by Nintendo.

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   by BULL3TPR00F - 2006-07-15
 » @ #3

HAHAHAHAHAHHA NEVER HAVE FAIR AND MICROSOFT IN THE SAME SENTENCE!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MS GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE DO YOU? BY STEALING!!! THATS RIGHT, YOUR SUPPOSED FAIR COMPANY GOT STARTED ALL THANKS TO APPLE AND DOS. MICROSFT STOLE DOS FROM APPLE AND SLAPPED AN "MS' IN FRONT OF IT (MS-DOS). AT THAT TIME PERIOD, DOS WAS A MASSSSSIIIIIVVVEEEE BREAKTHROUGH IN THE COMPUTING WORLD., AND MICROSOFT COULDNT HANDLE BEING KICKED OUT OF THE GAME SO QUICKLY (THEY HAVENT BEEN FORMED FOR TOO LONG YET), SO THEY DID WHAT THEY DO BEST, STEAL.

   by genjiro (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » you guys make no sense

The patent office will allow a new patent on a old idea if the new patent is only little different. All patents require prior art or a base for the idea and improvements. everybody steals.

   by Crayve (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » ...

Just how the ***** is sony still standing...their bank account cant be that huge, they are being sued left and right, and having to pay for costs for the ps3, plus its employees, it makes me wonder once again, how the hell are they still standing as a company?

   by meeee (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » #6 and 7

what ever happened to your n64 emuuuu psmonkey

   by PSmonkey - 2006-07-15
 » Reneid Klein & BULL3TPR00F

Reneid Klein,
Actualy not all of today's standars are entirly Nintendo. While nintendo has quite a few; sony, microsoft, sega & atari have also brought alot to this industry that we all use today. That is my problem. Everybody gives nintendo credit but nobody cares to remember what everbody else did.

Also the idea of duel screens is not original. Nintendo actualy gets credit for the original design wich came from the Game & Watch series developed by Gunpei (maker of the gameboy & virtual boy). The DS in a sense is a upgrade GBA unit and the combinding of the Gamewatch Duel Screen setup & a touch pad over the bottom screen. There is little inovative in the DS. It really is just a frankenstine that actualy took japan by storm. I know alot about the history of the DS since I am a comercial programmer and at 1 time had early prototypes before it even became the DS (still kick my self to this day for not hiding the pcb in my desk, nobody would have realised we still had one).

BULL3TPR00F,
Microsoft did not steal dos from apple. Microsoft bought licensing rights to QDOS from SCP then eventualy bought the exclusive rights.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS

Fyi, GUI driven OS first used by MacOS was taken from Xerox (stupid move by Xerox to let them walk off with it). So not even Apple was original on that idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interface

   by PSmonkey - 2006-07-15
 » to meeee

Please see my website where I posted an update.

   by Ritchie (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » .

rofl at #5.
What do you expect?
Oh let's NOT use something that's good in the hands, etc.

   by lansingone - 2006-07-15
 » i want to sue them too

seems its a new thing to sue sony

   by inky (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » lol

Good ! it's about time the small guy takes out a Big Giant Slob like Sony, lol

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   by Warrior (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » Idiots

To all you idiots who think Nintendo had motion sensoring technology before Sony you are very wrong. Sony filed the patent for the technology in 1999. Nintendo uses a different system of motion sensoring so it was okay for them to use it. On the other hand Microsoft sucks overall anyway. The 360 has been out since November of last year and just hit 2 million units in the U.S. They F****** suck

   by ... (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » ...

ah who gives a shiet F**** the BIT**** that sued them

   by wekilledbambi03 (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » original playstation

lets not forget that sony developed for nintendo. they were working on a cd/cartidge based system. so its only natural that sony would be influenced by nintendo

   by Fin - 2006-07-15
 » wow

You fanboys are so up the ass with hugging your consoles and hating Sony so much that you are actually taking this as good news? Maybe Sony did infringe on some patents, but you could also tell that the company suing them is probably some lowly company that hasn't made much money and wants to milk Sony for as much money as they can.

None the less, Sony is a vital part of the electronics world. They push for new technology and strive to push the boarders of what we have today in electronics. If Sony goes bankrupt or anything along those lines, we are losing a great company that has been with us through years and years.

   by BOSS (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » I'am sick of Sony !!!

This is what happens to liers and cheats (Sony) who have no respect for other people or companys.

   by mbslrm - 2006-07-15
 » ....

This sucks.

   by ffaldkja - 2006-07-15
 » 22

liars and cheaters? the onlything they 'lie' about is to the cosumers, and guess what they tell you the truth, maybe in different wording so it doesnt look so bad. They could have made every person in the world turn on immersion at e3 if they didnt respect them at least a little. They repect consumers listen to our complaints wants and needs. Theyve been screwed over by nintendo, and had some business deals go askewed but thats business. They were allowed by the cross-liscening deal in 1989 to use these patents, the one company, agere system before they steped off from Lucent. If that cross-liscening deal still stand and didnt expire during the ps1's lifespan, agere has ***** on them and are probably on the lets sue sony bandwagon like people with take-two right now. If you think sony is a bunch of liars and cheats because you dont get the news of what they announce and the undertones behind what they tell the populace out of repect for other companies, then boss look at Microsoft and even Nintendo, they both have done same if not worse(MS).

   by Police (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » amazing

The game console market is full of stupid retards. Even before this has gone through the courts they are assuming Sony did wrong simply because they have developed a snotty spoilt brat kind of hatred towards them for... trying to be a business like every other. It's really kind of funny because Nintendo virtually does exactly the same thing as Sony time and again (proprietary formats, copy protection etc) and often things quite worse (planned obsolescence like the obviously flawed lack of backlighting on the original GBA and the initial poor looking design of the DS coupled with low quality screens... now that they rectifying this and sell you a DS again you think it's cool, lol).

If you want to talk about innovation in the handhelds look no farther than Sony. No other mainstream company produced such a powerful handheld system that has a strong capacity to compete with what had become a near Monopoly for Nintendo. If you still think Nintendo is innovative, look at the complete and utter lack of innovation in the entire gameboy line with it's molasses slow technical development. For over a decade they have been selling you virtually the same system with extremely minor technical development. Even the DS is generations behind the PSP in terms of technology, but if there is anything good that can be attributed to it's evolution you can thank that Sony for pushing the market into that direction. Rest assured, Nintendo will produce a more powerful handheld system next and it will be a lot more capable than the system they would have produced if it hadn't been for the competition Sony is providing.

Considing the strong brand power of Nintendo in the handheld market, Sony has to-date actually done an incredible job. It's only going to get better.

   by senjutsu - 2006-07-15
 » stop bashing sony, M$ and Nintendo are even worse!

man can't the company stop their stupid pursuits!!!

this is stupid, 1st the immersion rumble, WTF, you think nobody but immersion could think of something as "hard to imagine" as rumble in a controller :| wtf, anyway now that sony and microsoft have paid to immersion ( yes, to the supid ass holes up who said M$ was better ), now they get sued for stupid and not even right things aout anything STUPID, this kinda remind me of Da Vinci Code being sued by a stupid GAY who lost anyway BUT his book became so popular because everyone wanted to know if yes or no he had copied... I suppose aeger wanna be more popular? anyway if 1 out of 8 is a real steal, then JUST PAY sony!! and you who are bashing sony FU** OFF!! you SHOULD know M$ stole immersion and a lot of others too, you should even know that Mr. Gates stole "windows" so shut the fuc* up! and nintendo is not better they stoled the wiiMote, the most important thing in the wii!!! they stole it to dreamcast:

http://mail.suneet.com/soniczone/news/archive/march99/proto/image9.jpg

http://mail.suneet.com/soniczone/news/archive/march99/proto/image8.jpg

so anyway everybody is stealer, the thing is : STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!!! NOBODY CARES

   by demologik (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » awesome

great response "Police"

his comments are all very true.

sony is an innovator that ushers in new ideas and technology.

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   by Annony - 2006-07-15
 » You tools

'Business ethics' is an oxymoron (contradictive).

But don't think that Microsoft and Nintendo are somehow led by King Arthur and his Knights of the Round, because they aren't. I really hate you self-righteous @sses who eat and ***** all the slander and libel when your 'home team' does the exact same $hit, but you somehow 'conveniently overlook' it all. QUIT BEING TOOLS!

The lesson of the day: "No one can earn a million dollars honestly" - William Jennings Bryan

Kudos 'Police'

   by adm_kenshin (Unregistered) - 2006-07-15
 » Software patents

All of you screaming at Sony to stop copying and play things fair, have you looked at these patents. These patents cover innovations that every major electronics company use. Nintendo uses it, Microsoft uses it, every laptop producer uses them. THey can do this because they cross-liscense their patents (If you don't sue me, I won't sue you).

Every major electroics company holds tens of thousands of patents that all the other companies have to use to build anything using technology invented in the last 20 years. If this company that's suing Sony is still producing something electronic at all, their products probably infringe on over a hundred sony patents.

That's why big companies cross-liscense, otherwise they couldn't produce anything at all! If this company isn't just a patent troll, and actually produces anything, Sony can stomp them into the ground. And they can, in return, stomp sony into the ground (unless they're much smaller). It's like nuclear cold war, mutually assured destruction.

It's time to get rid of the patent system, it only benefits patent trolls, lawyers and help the big companies get rid of smaller competition. And remember: the only thing worse than a state monopoly (which all americans seem to fear more than the apocalypse) is a private monopoly.

   by SteveTao - 2006-07-15
 » Man

Sony has legal rights to 7 of the 8 patents anyway. So those peeps are just talking out of thier arse. And the 8th patent, I am pretty sure Sony created it on Sony's own, as Sony got all the details on how it actually works while that the company suing only got an outline and some patent with no actual working stuff. Another pathetic attempt to gain scam money from Sony.



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