Court rules against Sony in Immersion patent case

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A federal jury in the USA has found in favour of technology firm Immersion Corporation in a case taken against Sony two years ago, agreeing that the PlayStation's Dual Shock controllers infringe two Immersion patents. The case focused on US patents 6,275,213 and 6,424,333, which cover "haptic feedback" - specifically, the use of computer-controlled vibrating motors to provide tactile feedback to the user of a program.

Immersion filed suit against both Sony and Microsoft for infringing these patents in early 2002, and settled out of court with Microsoft in mid-2003, with the Seattle-based giant paying the company $26 million to license the technology, and buying a portion of the firm in the process. Sony's decision to fight on in the US courts turned out to be the wrong one this week, as the jury found in favour of Immersion in the case, and while no final judgement has been filed in the case, Sony has been ordered to pay $82 million in damages.

News source: GamesIndustry.biz

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#1 imtoomuch on 23 Sep 2004 - 14:50

WTF. There are so many patents in this day and age that it's probably next to impossible to produce something without infringing on some patent. I wouldn't be surprised if Sony and/or Microsoft had no idea the patent already existed. I guess that's what lawyers are for, though.

#2 SeMz... on 23 Sep 2004 - 14:59

they would'nt have done a better job than sony at making the product anyway

#3 Jephery on 23 Sep 2004 - 15:13

So Microsoft paid a third as much and got away with part of the company, too? I think Sony needs to pay attention and learn a bit from Microsoft. So Microsoft, as share-holders, will also get dividends from the money Sony pays in the settlement. That makes me happy.

#4 noll3095 on 23 Sep 2004 - 15:20

Sounds like a perfectly good patent to me. And they didn't wait 10 years before trying to enforce it. Microsoft and Sony should have people who specifically have the job of finding out if a particular product will infringe on someone else. No sympathy on this one from me.

(1 reply) #5 DKAngel on 23 Sep 2004 - 17:06

so filed in 2002: there has been dual shock controlers out b4 2000 for the ps1 oh god next they try and patent that someone thought up of making the world
patents are such a stupid idea

#5.1 redFX on 23 Sep 2004 - 18:17

You have no idea how patents work. The issue date is not important. Its the filling date minus 1 year. You can even go back 2-3 years before filing date on some patents.

#6 macrosslover on 23 Sep 2004 - 17:44

yeah i never understood this case. why didn't they sue Nintendo also? but i agree with the previous poster, Sony has had their dual shock rumble out since ps1, and if they didn't change their design for the ps2, then why didn't they get sued when they first started infringing the patent. i also found it hard to believe that MS would use the exact same technology too.

maybe MS settled because they don't trust the intelligence of juries. it looks like they ended up being right in the end.

#7 frogworm on 23 Sep 2004 - 20:46

to whoever may not know, Nintendo 64 used Immersion technology with the rumble pack. Immersion technology was used in the Logitech iFeel mouse. the fact is, vibration feedback from software is Immersion technology, get use to it. I personally want a new iFeel mouse which would be a bluetooth MX1000 with force-feedback.

(1 reply) #8 manwohat on 24 Sep 2004 - 00:17

Patent law is rediculous I believe in protecting what you rightfully created but these days companies and individuals are patenting a broad range of things. The whole patent system is rediclous and I firmly believe some laws need to be in place to prevent stuff like this from happening again. If a company owns a patent it isn't using other companies should have the right to use it without facing penalties.

#8.1 SanGreal on 24 Sep 2004 - 04:22

Who said they aren't using it? http://www.immersion.com/gaming/game_applications/console/

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