Sony = Pwnt!
Breakthrough
Texture Artist (ns_prometheus) Join Date: 2005-03-27 Member: 46620Members, Constellation
Texture Artist (ns_prometheus) Join Date: 2005-03-27 Member: 46620Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">PS2 Sales Halt</div> <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it was ordered by a U.S. court to halt sales of its blockbuster PlayStation consoles in the United States and pay $90 million in damages to a California tech company, Immersion Corp. (IMMR.O: Quote, Profile, Research).
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), Sony's gaming unit, said it would appeal the decision by a California federal court in the patent infringement case.
For the time being, Sony will keep selling PlayStations as the order -- which covers the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, two game controllers and 47 software titles -- will not go into effect before the appeal, an SCE spokeswoman said. Sony will be paying compulsory license fees to Immersion, she added.
Games have been Sony's profit driver in recent years, accounting for 44 percent of the company's group operating profit from October to December, as it struggles with price declines at its electronics division.
Sony in January cut its operating profit estimate for this business year 31 percent, citing sharply falling prices of televisions, DVD recorders and other key products and weak demand for chips.
Immersion, a small, California-based developer of digital touch technologies, claimed Sony Computer Entertainment infringed on its technology that makes a game controller vibrate in sync with actions in games, the Japanese game maker said.
The $90 million awarded by the court is more than triple Immersion's total revenues of $23.8 million in 2004 and represents two-thirds of the company's current market value of around $135 million.
The court's decision confirmed a ruling by a California jury last year that ordered Sony to pay $82 million in the case. The amount was raised to slightly more than $90 million due to interest.
Immersion's stock rose 36 percent to $7.85 on the Inet electronic exchange, from its $5.75 close on Thursday.
Shares in Sony closed down 0.23 percent, underperforming the Tokyo stock market's electric machinery index, which rose 0.32 percent.
In another intellectual property-related lawsuit between Japanese and U.S. technology companies, Toshiba Corp. (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) was ordered by a California jury last week to pay $465 million in punitive and other damages to Lexar Media Inc. (LEXR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) for stealing trade secrets. Toshiba, the world's seventh-largest chip maker, suggested it would appeal the decision.
Toshiba shares were down 0.22 percent at 446 yen, extending Friday's 0.45 percent slide. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<a href='http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4387045.stm' target='_blank'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4387045.stm</a>
<a href='http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000920037859' target='_blank'>http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000920037859</a>
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), Sony's gaming unit, said it would appeal the decision by a California federal court in the patent infringement case.
For the time being, Sony will keep selling PlayStations as the order -- which covers the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, two game controllers and 47 software titles -- will not go into effect before the appeal, an SCE spokeswoman said. Sony will be paying compulsory license fees to Immersion, she added.
Games have been Sony's profit driver in recent years, accounting for 44 percent of the company's group operating profit from October to December, as it struggles with price declines at its electronics division.
Sony in January cut its operating profit estimate for this business year 31 percent, citing sharply falling prices of televisions, DVD recorders and other key products and weak demand for chips.
Immersion, a small, California-based developer of digital touch technologies, claimed Sony Computer Entertainment infringed on its technology that makes a game controller vibrate in sync with actions in games, the Japanese game maker said.
The $90 million awarded by the court is more than triple Immersion's total revenues of $23.8 million in 2004 and represents two-thirds of the company's current market value of around $135 million.
The court's decision confirmed a ruling by a California jury last year that ordered Sony to pay $82 million in the case. The amount was raised to slightly more than $90 million due to interest.
Immersion's stock rose 36 percent to $7.85 on the Inet electronic exchange, from its $5.75 close on Thursday.
Shares in Sony closed down 0.23 percent, underperforming the Tokyo stock market's electric machinery index, which rose 0.32 percent.
In another intellectual property-related lawsuit between Japanese and U.S. technology companies, Toshiba Corp. (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) was ordered by a California jury last week to pay $465 million in punitive and other damages to Lexar Media Inc. (LEXR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) for stealing trade secrets. Toshiba, the world's seventh-largest chip maker, suggested it would appeal the decision.
Toshiba shares were down 0.22 percent at 446 yen, extending Friday's 0.45 percent slide. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<a href='http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4387045.stm' target='_blank'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4387045.stm</a>
<a href='http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000920037859' target='_blank'>http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000920037859</a>
Comments
<a href='http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000920037859' target='_blank'>http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000920037859</a>
[ninja edit] why dont .GIFs work here?![/NINJA edit]
It seems to me that a giant such as sony could buy out this company if they lose, thereby aquiring the patents. Surely they make enough off playstations to justify the cost. Of course, that would be bad for every other console that wants to use force feedback...
I wouldnt say pwnt.
If this is the story about the dualshock patents, then i remeber hearing somewhere that the original patent for the so-called "Stolen Tech" was so vauge, that had to fill it out again. After the ps1 came out...
I think I'll file my patent for the "you-know-what" mmorpg before anyone else start making it.
Because Nintendo isn't leading in sales in the console market?
Because Nintendo isn't leading in sales in the console market? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Maybe becuase the rumble pack was seperate from the controller. In any case, I'm gonna go invest in Immersion.
Also, they aren't halting sales. The judge gave them someword that starts with an i [edit: The word is injuction], basically forcing them to licsence it for now, and giving them time for an appeal. I'll post the article in a little bit. It was also linked to from slashdot.
edit:
<a href='http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050327-4739.html' target='_blank'>http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050327-4739.html</a>
That's my foggy understanding of the above article. Basically all three companies were in trouble, but since Sony tried to fight it, they got it the worst of all.
edit2: Or maybe Nintendo wasn't sued. I do know that all three companies are involved, and both Nintendo and Microsoft handled it out of court.
Because Nintendo isn't leading in sales in the console market? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
They're not the only vibrating controller makers. For example, Force Feedback is also some sort of vibrating controller.
Also, they aren't halting sales. The judge gave them someword that starts with an i [edit: The word is injuction], basically forcing them to licsence it for now, and giving them time for an appeal. I'll post the article in a little bit. It was also linked to from slashdot.
edit:
<a href='http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050327-4739.html' target='_blank'>http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050327-4739.html</a>
That's my foggy understanding of the above article. Basically all three companies were in trouble, but since Sony tried to fight it, they got it the worst of all.
edit2: Or maybe Nintendo wasn't sued. I do know that all three companies are involved, and both Nintendo and Microsoft handled it out of court. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
D: THE TSA LIED <a href='http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050328-4742.html' target='_blank'>Clicky</a>
Dunno, caught that out of the corner of my eye when I was reading the story <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->