Sony, Nintendo and Apple Sued Over Wireless Tech

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Sony, Nintendo and Apple Sued Over Wireless Tech


iPhone 3G [http://www.sony.com] violate two of the company's patents.

Filed in the Western District Court of Texas, the suit claims that the wireless communications technology present in the companies' hardware infringes upon two of its patents. The first patent describes a performance-based method of selecting wireless communication channels while the second relates to managing those channels, also on a performance-related basis. Both patents were filed in 2001.

Bandspeed [http://www.bandspeed.com/], which describes itself as "the leader in next-generation Wi-Fi management," is seeking damages as well as a permanent injunction against all three companies preventing them from continuing to violate its patents.

Sharp-eyed observers will notice something unusual about this case: The lawsuit is filed against Sony, Nintendo... and Apple. No mention of Microsoft [http://www.microsoft.com] anywhere. The absence of everyone's favorite courtroom punching bag is a bit odd to say the least and since the question is bound to come up sooner or later - probably sooner - I'm going to put it out there right now: What do you think the odds are that this "Bandspeed" operation is just a front for the Redmond gang?

Okay, the odds aren't very good. But it makes for an interesting, if somewhat paranoid, theory. Meanwhile, I expect this one, like so many others, to go away quietly with a nice, reasonably priced out-of-court settlement.

Source: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6215151.html]


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AboveUp

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May 21, 2008
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Doesn't the Wii use Wi-Fi the exact same way as the DS does? ...and why the hell did this company take so long to notice anyway?

Maybe Microsoft got away unnoticed because you have to pay extra to get it online wireless: it doesn't come with the console.
 

HentMas

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Apr 17, 2009
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i think the main reason is that Xbox uses a device that is not built in the console to connect to wi-fi (as far as i know, i dont know if it is integrated in the newer consoles), so they should work differently...

perhaps nintendo and Play station did stole some of their ideas?? i dont know, but an operations sounds ilusory
 

randommaster

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AboveUp said:
Doesn't the Wii use Wi-Fi the exact same way as the DS does? ...and why the hell did this company take so long to notice anyway?
Because the Wii and iPhone are making tons of money. As for Sony, maybe they just don't like Sony.

What I want to see is a limit put on how long you can wait before you sue a company for patent infringement. If someone's using your shit, you should have to deal with it quickly, or lose your ability to go to court with this BS of waiting until someone is making more from your stuff than you are.
 

Angron

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Jul 15, 2008
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well 2 people beat me to saying its probably cause the xbox doesnt come with it but this is another silly patent lawsuit

what is it with stupid patents and lawsuits recently?
 

Pendragon9

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This company should not be allowed a single dime.

You take years to file your lawsuit, especially when you can see your patent being used ALL OVER THE PLACE? Tough luck, you deserve nothing.
 

HentMas

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Apr 17, 2009
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randommaster said:
AboveUp said:
Doesn't the Wii use Wi-Fi the exact same way as the DS does? ...and why the hell did this company take so long to notice anyway?
Because the Wii and iPhone are making tons of money. As for Sony, maybe they just don't like Sony.

What I want to see is a limit put on how long you can wait before you sue a company for patent infringement. If someone's using your shit, you should have to deal with it quickly, or lose your ability to go to court with this BS of waiting until someone is making more from your stuff than you are.
the problem with that is that perhaps you havent noticed, who says that they are in tune with "everything" that goes wireless??? heck, if i designed a new chip that allowed for your pc to have multiple screens and i always used a mac, do you think i would notice that microsoft stole my idea??
 

Armored Prayer

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When I read the title and saw the three companies I immediately thought "Microsoft".

Gladly I'm mistaken.
 

AceDiamond

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HentMas said:
randommaster said:
AboveUp said:
Doesn't the Wii use Wi-Fi the exact same way as the DS does? ...and why the hell did this company take so long to notice anyway?
Because the Wii and iPhone are making tons of money. As for Sony, maybe they just don't like Sony.

What I want to see is a limit put on how long you can wait before you sue a company for patent infringement. If someone's using your shit, you should have to deal with it quickly, or lose your ability to go to court with this BS of waiting until someone is making more from your stuff than you are.
the problem with that is that perhaps you havent noticed, who says that they are in tune with "everything" that goes wireless??? heck, if i designed a new chip that allowed for your pc to have multiple screens and i always used a mac, do you think i would notice that microsoft stole my idea??
You're basically saying that the designers of this technology do not pay enough attention to the field they are in.

While entirely possible, ignorance is not an excuse for taking way too damn long to just happen to file a lawsuit.
 

odisious15

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Nov 14, 2007
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Microsoft isn't included in there because the Xbox 360 doesn't use the same type of Wi-Fi connection selection & management system as Sony, Nintendo and Apple.

Also even though I've known about AirMaestro since it was released way back when, their case still holds no water as the technology used falls under the natural evolution of technology, it's something that is just a minor improvement over a past system and all 3 companies being sued use a different system for Wi-Fi management. The lawsuit is basically asking that wireless technology be stopped from advancing unless they are paid a fat wad of cash for having patented a "no shit" form of wireless tech.
 

fix-the-spade

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Feb 25, 2008
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Why aren't themega corporations hiring hitmen like the American Railways used to do?

I bet it's much cheaper than out of court settlement, with the added bonus that the noisy person behind the suit quietly vanishes...
 

randommaster

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HentMas said:
randommaster said:
AboveUp said:
Doesn't the Wii use Wi-Fi the exact same way as the DS does? ...and why the hell did this company take so long to notice anyway?
Because the Wii and iPhone are making tons of money. As for Sony, maybe they just don't like Sony.

What I want to see is a limit put on how long you can wait before you sue a company for patent infringement. If someone's using your shit, you should have to deal with it quickly, or lose your ability to go to court with this BS of waiting until someone is making more from your stuff than you are.
the problem with that is that perhaps you havent noticed, who says that they are in tune with "everything" that goes wireless??? heck, if i designed a new chip that allowed for your pc to have multiple screens and i always used a mac, do you think i would notice that microsoft stole my idea??
Well, if that happens, you should have been paying more attention to the industry. companies are always showing off new features for their gizmos, usually at large conferences and trade shows, so saying you didn't notice it for eight years means that you haven't been paying attention.

I'm sure Bandspeed noticed similarities in WiFi tech as soon as the specs for these systems were released, and that is when the suits should have been filed. You shouldn't get to pick and choose when to defend your products, only suing big companies and aiming for a settlement. If a company starts out small and happens to use similar products, you should be forced to file against them when the technology for their product becomes available, not almost a decade later when the company has money. People are complaining about Tim Langdell doing this, so I don't see why they should stand for this either.
 

Rogun11

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Apr 10, 2009
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It's funny how this turns up so much later. why wait this long to find out it breaks the patant?.
 

300lb. Samoan

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Malygris said:
I'm going to put it out there right now: What do you think the odds are that this "Bandspeed" operation is just a front for the Redmond gang?

Okay, the odds aren't very good. But it makes for an interesting, if somewhat paranoid, theory.
Well, that is one rather shitty logo, deserving of non-existance... Maybe a front indeed
 

El Poncho

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May 21, 2009
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Nothing going to improve if people keep claiming things as there own and fucking sueing everyone.
 

HT_Black

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May 1, 2009
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How very interesting...the idea of a Microsoft-backed patent troll was the first thing that vame into my mind. Perhaps they will seek a monopoly after the PS3, PSP, and Wii's online connections are crippled?
 

swytchblayd

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May 28, 2008
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Once again, major companies getting sued by ones we've never heard of with fairly generic names. Is it just me or is there a pattern forming :/ ?

And yeah, that logo is shit. A child could make more interesting ones than that. Maybe we should put children in charge of logo-creation from now on o.o