A ruling in a US court has caused some major upheaval for Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). A federal district court in California ruled the SCE must cease sales of its Playstation and Playstation 2 consoles, while paying the company Immersion $90 million because of complaints stemming from a patent infringement case.
Sony representatives indicated they would be appealing the case, while continuing sales of the two consoles in question. An appeal of the suspension order for the consoles allows SCE to continue sales of the PS and PS2. According to CNet.com, the infringement concerns the “PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles, two game controllers and 47 software titles.”
Sony is allowed to continue its console sales because they will be paying Immersion the necessary license fees.
The article goes on to reveal:
Immersion, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of tactile feedback technology, claimed Sony Computer Entertainment infringed on its technologies that make a game controller vibrate in sync with actions in games, the Japanese game maker said.
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.
With the explosion of the PSP since its highly anticipated launch, not all is lost for SCE by a long shot. However, the potential ramifications from this case, not being able to sale the incredibly popular Playstation home console line, would resonate throughout the home entertainment industry.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest search news.
