AfterDawn: News

Sony fails to have patent ruling overturned

A federal judge has dealt another blow to Sony by refusing to overturn an earlier jury verdict that awarded $90.7 million to Immersion Corp. Immersion accused Sony of patent infringement for its use of "haptic technology" in the PlayStation consoles (DualShock). Game manufacturers refer to controller vibration in response to video game activity as Haptic technology. In September 2004, an Oakland, Calif. jury found that Sony had violated patents surrounding the technology.

Sony attempted to have the earlier decision thrown out by accusing Immersion Corp. of withholding information of earlier haptic technology inventions by Craig Thorner. Sony believed the information could have changed the outcome of the trial. However, Sony made a $150,000 payment to Thorner to license his patents, which led the Judge to doubt the reliability of the consultant's testimony.



She said that the payment could be viewed as a payment for positive testimony. "The court finds that Sony has not presented clear and convincing evidence of misconduct by Immersion that would warrant a new trial," U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken wrote in her decision. The biggest fears Sony has over the result of this case is possibly having to drop or modify such functionality for the PS3.

Immersion is now considering suing Sony for "alleged payment for testimony".

Source:
Betanews

Written by: James Delahunty @ 14 Mar 2006 10:02

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• 30 comments

• OzMick

  Is ANY component of the PS3 EVER going to be finalized?

  14.3.2006 11:32 #1

• JXP2307

  Sock it to 'em...

  14.3.2006 11:46 #2

• hot_ice

  Immersion is really giving Sony a pounding LLOLOLOLL.
  
  Well that's what happens when you are dishonest and steal another companies patent.
  
  On another note, I am somewhat convinced that the PS3's design will be flawed in more ways than one, and that they will release a less than satisfactory console.
  
  
  

  14.3.2006 12:12 #3

• garmoon

  JXP2307 You got it right Dude. In the rear!

  14.3.2006 12:56 #4

• l34merik

  well they paid Immersion 150,000 so now no matter what we'd still have duelshock for ps3 rite?

  14.3.2006 14:34 #5

• wazid360

  aww man hope sony can recover from the damage. or else it looks like i might buy a 360 or a revolution.

  14.3.2006 15:54 #6

• SGSeries2

  So...
  
  -the XBox360's here, yet expensive and problematic
  -the PS3 can't even get out the door, has one funky controller, and supports a new dvd format that, too, can't get out the door
  and
  -the Revolution's no where near as powerful and also has a funky (a different, possibly good kinda funky) controller too, but is much cheaper than either and still slated for this fall as "planned"...
  
  This is going to be an interesting generation...

  14.3.2006 16:17 #7

• NINVIN21

  Man that dont sound good,
  
  I hope this is chump change to sony!
  Cause I wanna see the PS3,
  and
  I hope I dont need a 2,000 tv for it to look pretty like the new xbox.
  
  SGSeries2 yep, I agree 99%

  14.3.2006 18:44 #8

• ZippyDSM

  and how long has it been sicne the PSX's DS controls? 0_o
  dose that mean all the other rumble techonly didnt pay? 0_o

  14.3.2006 19:05 #9

• Nick600

  @ SGSeries2
  
  It seems every one involved in the race for this new generation of video game consoles have actually tripped and fallen on their chin or something. Hopefully, when Sony wakes up and starts the race, they will be able to see the others laying on the track and they will think to jump over to avoid crashing too...

  14.3.2006 19:54 #10

• Dude2099

  hmmmm im a little confused how come this didnt arise in 1997, when it first came out?

  14.3.2006 21:32 #11

• borhan9

  To me this is like 2 kids in a sandbox fighting over the box... and Sony thinks it owns everythin Much like MS soo they play the $$ hand... vut i love when it blows up in their faces...
  
  I am a fan of Sony's past consoles, but in regards to any of the new generation machines that are commin im still on the fence.... They really have too impress me otherwise ill stick to my PC and let the dust keep piling up on my PS2.
  
  As they say watch this space...

  14.3.2006 21:53 #12

• Nick600

  @ borhan9
  
  I'm exactly the same way. I am a PC gamer. I bought a PS2 back when San Andreas came out so I could play it. Other than that, it mostly serves as a DVD player for my TV upstairs.

  14.3.2006 23:50 #13

• hot_ice

  I am really annoyed with these new developments, will the PS3 be a next generation piece of crap?

  15.3.2006 00:37 #14

• firefae

  LMAO@SONY!!!
  
  What a bunch of hipocrites they are, suing people for copyright infringement and all the while they were doing it themselves. This is what I mean by one law for the rich and one law for the poor. I'm glad one judge finally had the balls to stand against the mighty ( or so sony seem to think of themselves as mighty )machine.
  
  This is the reason I will keep on doing what I'm doing, it just astounds me that Sony bleating in the courts about people such as us infringing copyright and they go and do it themselves.......I wonder if interpol will go to their offices and sieze all their assest as proceeds of copyright crime?
  
  once again LMAO@Sony they are just as bad as MS

  15.3.2006 03:36 #15

• mystic

  the saddest part of all this is that sony had a great product line with the ps1s and ps2s and the psps arnt that bad... if they would quit playing around with the firmware. also they need to release a connection from the psp to the tv so we can play big for us near sited fans.... but for the most advertized and longly awaited release this product better come with controllers(as in 2) and some game or its going to bomb hard because with all the delays loyal fans have had enough ... some are already looking to other platforms and some are collecting all the games they can for the older systems because the games can be gotten really cheap now... also anyone reading the artical will see that Thoner was who got the payment not Immersion so if Immersion still holds the patent then the p3 will not have dual shock unless they cough up some more money and at this stage of the game can sony afford to keep throwing money out the door or will they scrap the ps3 due to financail issues.....or will they say in for a penny ,in for a pound....

  15.3.2006 04:43 #16

• heappi

  Microsoft already settled back in 2003 with Immersion regarding the XBOX, and I would think they took the time to pay for 360 controllers as well. It's time for Sony to pay up as well.

  15.3.2006 05:10 #17

• Kasper45

  If was annouced today that the PS3 will not ship til November at ther earliest. There's some issues with the Blu-ray side of things. I think it's time to go buy my 360 now. Micosoft must be loving this, a whole year of owning the NEXT generation market. Plus now there's a greater chance that Halo 3 will be out by this holiday season, which Gates has rumored to release H# on the day the PS3 comes out. We shall see.
  
  ~Sully

  15.3.2006 08:24 #18

• borhan9

  @firefae
  Quote:I'm glad one judge finally had the balls to stand against the mighty ( or so sony seem to think of themselves as mighty )machine.Well mate this worked because the judge did not have any balls :)
  
  Its amazing that it takes a woman to bring down a mighty organisation...
  
  More power to them :)

  15.3.2006 10:12 #19

• ZippyDSM

  well we've already seen the 360 fall off the diving board...Sony seems to be afraid of heights and Nintendo prez is baking in the sun killing every brain cell he ever had.......I go where the games are that's true but I like my PC games most..but the last few years game have been dumbed down to generic console level to try and catch the zombie casual gamers and the quality has gone to hell....nowadays its about the console Frost quality and PC 2nd.
  I am pissed enough with how things are going to go retro gaming for couple years till the game industry gets its head out of its arse...

  15.3.2006 15:57 #20

• hot_ice

  Konishiwa this Japan, your PS3 release delays reeks of poor management!
  
  Arigato gozaimashu for totally being a let down Sony.

  15.3.2006 18:00 #21

• ZippyDSM

  hot_ice
  maybe they were going to do what MS did release a half assed next gen system on us gamers and we could pay them (buying the games and hardware) to do beta testing for them 0-o
  Sony might have decided ggeee...maybe we have to work at this alil...*L*

  15.3.2006 18:15 #22

• volcomiso

  Sony can suck on my balls stealers!!!!

  15.3.2006 18:51 #23

• hot_ice

  @volcomiso
  
  Lol hilarious.
  
  @Zippy
  
  The PS3 better feature games that I can play with my partner. It seems to me to be a very selfish console.

  16.3.2006 12:00 #24

• volcomiso

  LOL that's so true they seem very selfish!

  16.3.2006 12:26 #25

• briancox

  Is this the same corporation that's going after minors for 'copyright' infringement. Talk about double standards. And you still want to give these guys your money for more of the same ??

  16.3.2006 21:51 #26

• Dennishp

  I used to support Sony and would buy their products...TV's and other electronics. Since they seem to play by two sets of rules when doing business, I'm glad to see they pay the price. I won't buy anything made by Sony anymore if a similar product is available from another manufacturer. I would also like to see Blu-ray go the way of the Betamax vs. HD-DVD. Just my personal feelings..........

  17.3.2006 04:05 #27

• Thonor

  Here's my 2 cents on the whole deal:
  
  Sony has been playing the hardball "We're Sony you can't touch us" game for a number of years now. It's finally coming back to bite them. Lawsuits take an average of 3 or 4 years in court, so that's why this decision is only coming out now.
  
  I frankly don't care what happens with the PS3 now, since I'm not interested in buying one because I refuse to support Sony in any way shape or form. Actually, I hope PS3 is a flop, then it might force them to make changes and really consider what they're doing before they just go ahead and do it.
  
  I'm also no fan of Micro$oft, but I fully support M$ and Toshiba in the battle of HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray. I really hope this doesn't turn into another VHS v. Betamax war - because companies have already said they will look for exclusive movie releases on only one format. So you have to buy 2 new (probably $400) DVD players to watch all movies you buy? Don't think so....
  
  I'm a Nintendo fan, and plan to get the Revolution, but I would buy an Xbox 360 before I would get a PS3 (and don't get me started on how much I hate XB360s)... Just because a company runs around all high and mighty doesn't mean they can get away with it forever.

  17.3.2006 07:29 #28

• ceno82

  I grew up around Nintendo so I will always have a Nintendo system. With the Revolution being the cheapest one I will own one with out a doubt. Also I'm not a big fan of XBOX, but for Halo I will whore my sould to the 360, that is once they have revised versions that work better/don't overheat ect. 500 for a next gen system is a bit nuttz, but it's also border line which I can accept. Anymore then that on a game system is stupid because we all remember "disc read error". Do you Sony fanboys really think that BlueRay drives will function better then DVD? Just a spek of dust on that new drive and you'll all be crying about the disc read error! Graphics this graphics that, BLAH! Have you graphic idiots never heard of a graphics card for the PC? No matter what PC games will always be able too look better then console so I'm over the graphics (have been since the N64,PSX days)and all about the game play. VIVA LA MARIO & Master Chief and oh yeah right Sony has no one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  17.3.2006 10:12 #29

• WhatUp

  PC with a ZBoard for gaming and casual typing ;) and Logitech wireless Keyboard and Mouse I even add to that the All In Wonder and I have my full multimedia and Gamer machine.
  
  How about that :)
  
  

  17.3.2006 13:40 #30