Sony sued over Blu ray disc technology

Sony sued over Blu ray disc technology
According to court documents released today, Target Technology is suing Sony for patent infringements involving Blu ray disc technology.

Target says that Blu-ray infringes on patents held on the reflective-layer materials of the optical discs. The patent was filed in April 2004 and granted in March 2006.



Accroding to Target, the materials help discs corrode less easily than standard definition discs by using silver-based alloys instead of much more expensive and ineffective gold-based ones.

The company is seeking a permanent injunction and "significant" monetary damages.

Target also filed a seperate suit against the disc manufacturer Williams Advanced Materials, whom they accuse of violating another set of alloy patents held by the company. The company also claims that Target founder Han Nee was the original developer of the silver-based alloy materials used in current optical discs.

Source:
BetaNews

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 May 2007 10:50
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  • 30 comments

  • spydah

    I know I will say it first. Here we go again with another company digging in Sony's pockets for patients they feel Sony stole. For some this will be a great thing others probably wont care. My only question is why do they want so damn long to file these complaints. Blu-ray has been talked about and pushed since late last year. I know if somebody stole something of mines im not gonna sit back and twiddle my thumbs until further notice.

    25.5.2007 11:40 #1

  • NexGen76

    Originally posted by spydah:I know I will say it first. Here we go again with another company digging in Sony's pockets for patients they feel Sony stole. For some this will be a great thing others probably wont care. My only question is why do they want so damn long to file these complaints. Blu-ray has been talked about and pushed since late last year. I know if somebody stole something of mines im not gonna sit back and twiddle my thumbs until further notice.Actually Blu-ray been around longer than that i heard for almost three years in Japan.

    25.5.2007 11:43 #2

  • capu57

    in response to spydah's comment the patent (not patients) was granted only 14 months ago and the article does not talk about when the suit was filed it might just be that the case has finally made it to court. And knowing most company's they probably did there best to keep it quite for as long as possible. So who knows maybe the case was filed in March of 2006 and the news it just getting out.

    25.5.2007 11:47 #3

  • squidge37

    If you're looking to sue someone for ripping off your stuff, you'd want to wait until they've made a considerable amount of money off your idea. 1) You've got a bigger chunk of money to take from them, and 2) you're more able to prove that they've benefited from your idea and your case holds more weight and gets more attention

    25.5.2007 11:48 #4

  • capu57

    Also the article does not say that it is about the actually blu ray technology only the reflective coating. Which to my knowledge Sony change to not that long ago to maximize quality.

    25.5.2007 11:50 #5

  • chubbyInc

    Squidge37 has a good point.

    25.5.2007 11:56 #6

  • ZippyDSM

    sometimes so much stuff is involved in a tech that cooperation's glance over any posslable infringement and Sony is so fing sloppy theres a chance they tossed some stuff they didnt have the IP for into it and forgot.
    wish it would be a few billoin mistake..that would teach sony a lesson...

    25.5.2007 12:05 #7

  • Hopium

    squidge called it on the spot. also if you think they are just gold diggers try and sue someone and be in court the same year :D especially a corporation

    25.5.2007 12:20 #8

  • diabolic

    If Sony loses this case, does that mean that PS3 controllers won't work anymore?!?!

    what a horrible joke, sorry PS3 fans couldn't help but poke some fun at your rumbleless controllers!

    25.5.2007 12:30 #9

  • Hopium

    um this has absolutely nothing to do with rumble controllers at all. and besides that lawsuit was against all manufacturers who included the feature without permission. its just Nintendo and Microsoft paid and sony didn't want to

    25.5.2007 12:37 #10

  • lecsiy

    Down with sony! Ever since what they did to one of my favs japanese importers (Lik-sang) Ive never liked them!

    25.5.2007 12:54 #11

  • eatsushi

    Originally posted by lecsiy:one of my favs japanese importers (Lik-sang) Ive never liked them!Lik-Sang was based in Hong Kong.

    25.5.2007 13:05 #12

  • scott2k7

    wow sony lose more money lets hope the ps3 dies soon!!

    25.5.2007 13:11 #13

  • diabolic

    Originally posted by Hopium:um this has absolutely nothing to do with rumble controllers at all. and besides that lawsuit was against all manufacturers who included the feature without permission. its just Nintendo and Microsoft paid and sony didn't want toI was trying to draw a parallel between the previous case (sony said they used logitech technology instead of immersion) and this current one. I'm aware that sony did not pay up, hence no rumble in the jungle. I wonder if sony will pay up on this one or not.

    25.5.2007 13:26 #14

  • Hopium

    sony did settle the law suit months ago. i remember afterdawn i think even had an article about ps3 vibration controllers coming 2008 :D

    25.5.2007 13:59 #15

  • scott2k7

    they dont even have vibration on the controllers

    25.5.2007 14:00 #16

  • Hopium

    Given its global position as an electronics giant, Sony is quite familiar with patent law. The company is also quite familiar with the potential penalties for running afoul of patent law, as evidenced by the $97 million in damages and interest it had to pay Immersion Corporation in a dispute over the rumble functions in Dual Shock controllers.

    from gamespot vibration is coming trust me :D i work at a video game store (actually i'm at work right now :D)

    25.5.2007 14:08 #17

  • negatyve

    Originally posted by scott2k7:they dont even have vibration on the controllersWho cares? Has nothing to do with Blu Ray. Anyway, the format wars have gone on long enough. With both Walmart and the porn industry embracing HD-DVD, someone needs to drive the final nail in the coffin and get Blu Ray out of the game.

    25.5.2007 14:36 #18

  • borhan9

    Originally posted by scott2k7:wow sony lose more money lets hope the ps3 dies soon!!Regardless if sony looses money, they will not kill of the ps3 like this.

    25.5.2007 18:23 #19

  • justme81

    Originally posted by spydah:I know I will say it first. Here we go again with another company digging in Sony's pockets for patients they feel Sony stole. For some this will be a great thing others probably wont care. My only question is why do they want so damn long to file these complaints. Blu-ray has been talked about and pushed since late last year. I know if somebody stole something of mines im not gonna sit back and twiddle my thumbs until further notice.Notice when the patent was filed 2004 and was granted March 2006. So I'll bet they tried to work somthing out with sony and sony said F off so they filed suit.

    25.5.2007 19:50 #20

  • plazma247

    Might go to court, but i can only see it being a sucess if they were to prove sony use the same production process, surly u cant patent a reflective surface more the manufacturing process used to create it.

    Who actually owns Target Technology, it not getting COUGH COUGH funded by the HD DVD camp is it ?? cus its not like its in their intrests to do such an underhanded thing.

    26.5.2007 05:35 #21

  • cashman91

    today everyone is sue happy

    26.5.2007 06:41 #22

  • FaJu

    Originally posted by cashman91:today everyone is sue happySo very true.

    26.5.2007 17:30 #23

  • PeaInAPod

    Heres the way it is, if Sony did not say they had plans/ideas on how to use Silver Based Reflective Alloys for use with optical discs than they are gonners, as this basically means that they did breach the copyriht of Target Technology.

    26.5.2007 20:34 #24

  • jloc

    Doesn't this article from Sony Chemicals suggest they have been using silver based alloys since 2001?

    Sony Chemicals Introduces New SK6400 DVD Adhesive for Silver

    30.5.2007 21:17 #25

  • sdsunjay

    Lets sue everyone! The whole world is one big lawsuit.

    http://www.absoluteanime.com/yu_yu_hakusho/hiei-majin.jpg

    30.5.2007 21:55 #26

  • plazma247

    So sony look alright if they used it in 2001 and was included in older patents, however the suit would only ever be effective if they proved sony had copied the process for either dopeing the alloy or the disk manufacture process, instead of suing them purely for just using a silver reflectant.

    Looking at:

    http://www.freepatentsonline.com/result.html?query_txt=SK6400

    the sk6400 is apparently a method of hiding invisible water marks on disk and other objects.

    31.5.2007 03:28 #27

  • scott2k7

    who really cares about this topic its getting out of hand and boring now

    31.5.2007 04:03 #28

  • plazma247

    lol u could u just used the X button in the top right.

    Might be boring to you, but in the bigger picture if the suit actually managed to run it would possibly see sony having to pay a royalty for every disk or a large pay out, which has to intrest some people.

    31.5.2007 04:09 #29

  • Unfocused

    This is like suing somebody because their discs are round... Hmm, I wonder if anybody has created a patent for the shape of a disc...

    18.6.2007 17:07 #30

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