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Immersion Sues Sony and Microsoft Over Force Feedback
stereoroid writes: "Immersion Corp. has filed a lawsuit against Sony and Microsoft, alleging unauthorised use of their patents - here's their press release. The suit alleges that any use of touch or force feedback in their consoles violates their patents. For some obscure reason, this was first reported in the Irish Times today."
Why don't these companies come out and sue right away if it such a blatant violation of a patent or something? If I were the judge, I'd say "Well, the feedback stuff has been around for 3 years, you say you have had the patent for 5, why'd did you wait so long? Dismissed" Are IP lawyers like amblance chasers? Are there law firms who do nothing but troll IP patents then alert the holder to a violation (and by the way it will only cost you $$$).
"If you are on fire you can just stop, drop, and roll. If you fall into Lava you are just dead." - my 5yr old daughter
A small company designs something and a larger one tries to steal the idea. And yes anyone could have designed it. But immersion put in the time and resources to do it and that's why they should have a monopoly for it for a short time. Otherwise no one would bother to make new things. Why spend time and money on R&D when someone else will just steal the idea and make money of it.
For some obscure reason, this was first reported in the Irish Times today.
You mean because the Times scooped their competition? What's so unusual about that? Because it's not a US paper? Not all tech-savvy newspapers are located in the States, you know. Ireland has a thriving tech industry, so it's not all that surprising that they break a tech story now and again.
--Jim
Any idiot could have designed the force feedback stuff, even Microsoft! How did that get a patent on something so simple???
Once something is invented it's pretty much always simple ref zippers and velcro... that's why there's patent laws; someone is innovative enough to realize that there's a huge potential market for something that's been pretty much staring us in the face for the last umpteen years, so they perfect it, and patent it so that [insert-megalithic-corporation-here] can't screw them outta there rightly deserved cash.
Oh god, that woman is John Romero!
What's so stupid about this? If they were the first to come up with the idea, then Microsoft or Sony shouldn't be allowed to take their idea without paying for it.
The problem is everyone on slashdot is so conditioned to react negatively to any patent claim that they'll jump to the attack, even when it's unwarranted.
This is exactly what the patent office was created for.
Lawyer Entropy.
The US has too many people training to be lawyers and not enough scientists/engineers. Hence you get lawyers looking for things to do, which means either bog everyone down with brain-dead law-suits or go into corporate america as middle-management. In either case, they are adding no value to the US and we find the country slowing down from the lawyer entropy. If only we could persuade students to follow a math/science/engineering route instead.
If they were the first to come up with the idea, then Microsoft or Sony shouldn't be allowed to take their idea without paying for it.
Yes, but there are two points here:
1) They were NOT the first to come up with this. Loads of arcade games for instance have been using forced-feedback for many, many years.
2) This patent is far too broad, and should have never been granted. How can you patent the concept of vibration?! I could see if they patented a certain type of motor that produced a specific form of vibration, and Sony & MS stole the plans, but they are suing because their controllers vibrate. As much as I dislike Sony & MS, this lawsuit is BS.
I do wonder though. If Immersion wins, can the child in this story sue them instead of Sony??
I really don't Immersion is to blame on this one. If the patent office was stupid enough to award the Patent to them without checking for prior art, than it's still something that Microsoft and Sony are bound to recognize.
I remember when the Dual Shock Controller first came out for the PSX and how I was sure to buy one quick because everything I read pointed to a quick removal from the market for a patent infringement.
To Immersion's Defense, they did try to work with MS and Sony to work out a licensing agreement for the technology. I can't imagine that their asking price was that unreasonable seeing as though I had to pay $35 for a PS2 Dual Shock and $40 for the XBox controller.
[From the Article]
Immersion has expanded its licensees into the gaming console market with partners such as MadCatz, Saitek and others
This would indicate to me that other vendors have licensed Immersion's Technology. They sell their products a substantially cheaper price and in many cases are not an inferior product. I find it hard to believe that Sony and MS could not afford to pay this.
This is another case in which the Patent Office has screwed up again. If, as many of these other posts indicate there was prior art to the Force Feedback, then the Patent Office is to blame for awarding this in the first place. Immersion is simply excersing a right they have as patent holder--they are not to blame in this.