Sony Sued for Blu-Ray Patent Violation

Jaidan writes "According to a Gamespot article, a California-based company named Target Technology is suing Sony over patents it allegedly holds for silver based reflective surfaces. The suit claims that products marketed under the Blu-ray name infringe on a patent it owns for reflective layer materials in optical discs. Target is seeking a permanent injunction preventing Sony from violating its patent rights in the future, as well as damages with interest, multiplied due to what it characterizes as deliberate and willful infringement. ' The patent addresses what Target called a need for specific types of silver-based alloys with the advantages (but not the price) of gold. According to the patent, the alloys are also more resistant to corrosion than pure silver. Target does not specify in its suit whether it believes all of Sony's Blu-ray discs infringe on its patent, or the suit applies to just a portion of the discs manufactured. The patent was filed in April of 2004 and granted in March of 2006.'"

Comments

Will Sony be driven out of video games?

[Crazy Taco]

In thinking more about this issue, I had to ask myself the question: Is Sony going to be driven out of the video games market (at least for this generation of consoles)? Their sales all already really low, they were late out of the gate as compared to Microsoft, their games are expensive and hard to develop (so they don't have all that many), and now their whole console could be barred from production over this, depriving them of the last of the few sales they are getting. And they lose money on every PS3 sold anyway... so seriously, maybe from a business perspective they ought to just cut their losses and move one. If production stops over this issue, I just don't see how they will be able to make up enough ground or get enough market share to ever catch up.