PS2 Controller Suit Goes Badly For Sony

Immersion Corp, which owns the patent on 'rumble' technology, has won another round in its suit against Sony. Sony's 'dualshock' controller has used rumble technology for years, and in 2005 a judge awarded $82 Million to the patent-holder in payment. From the article: "Sony's defence was the alleged nondisclosure of some of the inventions of key employee Craig Thorner. who has been a consultant both for Immersion and subsequently for Sony. But, according to the report, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken was unhappy with Thorner's testimony supporting Sony, given that he had also been paid by Sony, and so dismissed this line of defence."

Comments

Re:This is just ridiculous

[Alex P Keaton in da]

Or sex toys...
But seriously, vibrators have been used for years in mining, as well as fruit picking...
http://www.clevelandvibrator.com/ (Yes, it is suitable for work- it is a company that has, since 1923, made industrial vibrators)

Re:Wow, this one was tough!

[Anonymous Coward]

Immersion is hardly an unknown company. They have hundreds of patents for their force-feedback technology and many products by many companies (including Microsoft) based on their licenses. Sony is just about the only major remaining holdout in the gaming industry.

Re:This is just ridiculous - not really

[kansas1051]

I dont think Newton had a video game system or a force-feedback controller. The scope of a patent is determined by its claims, not based on what a slashdot summary says. The claims of this patent are limited to a force-feedback controller

Sony could have licensed this patent for a few dollars several years ago (like everyone else did), but instead they relied on a frivolous legal theory (inequitable conduct) to invalidate the patent. Despite attempts by numerous big companies to invalidate this patent based on prior art, no one has ever located any meaningful prior art. The only issue in Sony's case was inequitable conduct (lying to the patent office), and the only evidence Sony presented was testimony from an "expert" they paid.

Re:Nintendo

[BinaryOpty]

The rumble pak and Gamecube controller use one unbalanced weight in the center whereas the Dual Shocks and Xbox controllers use two different unbalanced weights, one on each side of the controller. The patent is for the two weight configuration so Nintendo gets away scott free.

They Still Have Japan Cornerd

[Nazmun]

Xbox360 isn't doing so hot in japan because their barely moving any units there at all. Sony is like a national brand to them so no matter what the hell they charge people will buy it. For example, for big games companies charge almost 2x as much as average games over there. FFXII will be out for about $90 USD in japan.

Here's a sample of XBox360 sale data in japan
http://www.craxtion.com/content/view/133/2/

Even the launch was horrid:
http://news.com.com/Study+Xbox+360+sales+start+slo w+in+Japan/2100-1043_3-5992548.html

The xbox360 presence in japan is almost negligible and it's not performing particularily well in the states either. While sales are much better here it's not anywhere near dominating.

Re:They Still Have Japan Cornerd

[Bagels]

To be honest, it's looking more and more as if *Nintendo* has Japan cornered. Look at the craze surrounding the DS Lite launches, and the top-ten-games lists dating back to the middle of last year. Once in a while a PS2 or PSP title will push its way in, but the consistent best-sellers (like the Brain Training games and Animal Crossing) are all DS titles. The PSP isn't doing shabby, either - it's pretty consistently in second - but neither it nor the PS2 approach the DS' performance, even speaking historically (the DS is selling faster than the PS2 ever did).

The clincher will (or will not, dependant) be the Revolution launch in Japan. A lot of developers have expressed tremendous interest in it, but the publishers have been quiet. Of course, the Revolution is sort of being marketed as a "companion" console - riding alongside a Sony or Microsoft machine - but I personally think that marketing is only for the hard-core, Famitsu-reading Japanese gamers. Nintendo seems pretty confidant that it'll also be picked up by large numbers of more casual gamers who wouldn't bother with the expensive competition.

Re:Wow, this one was tough!

[Anonymous Coward]

Immersion is hardly an unknown company for feedback sensitive devices. They have been in the medical community for years and also leasing their technology to manufacturers of input devices. If they did not have a viable right on their technology I hardly think companies like logitech would pay royalties. Sony could have leased the technology themselves, but apparently prefers to pay their legal team more than play fair.

Re:Wow, this one was tough!

[c_forq]

Sony is just about the only major remaining holdout in the gaming industry.

Just a quick caveat, in the gaming industry only Microsoft licences the patient, as Nintendo independently developed their own rumble technology that is significantly different.