Sony, Nintendo Sued Over Controllers

[Dry Ice]

totally FUBAR! Seriously, stupid little companys trying to make a buck, aint going to happen, im sure sony and Nintendo arnt daft enough to make this mistake.

Another failiure in the American Ambulance chasing Law system.

 

[Corbineau]

international patent law for teh fail.

Noticing that both companies being sued are Japanese companies, after all.

 

[Arbre]

international patent law for teh fail.

Noticing that both companies being sued are Japanese companies, after all.

This is because nukes aren't allowed anymore.

 

[JakubK666]

......another symptom of how hopelessly fubar patent law is in this country.

This country? Seems pretty much the same everywhere. Also, there are a lot of people on the site from different countries and since no country is named in the article, I dont even know what "this country" is supposed to be.

He means America. Lawsuits are their national hobby. The more frivolous , the better.

 

[Disgustor]

I can't see this getting anywhere. I'm pretty sure both companies have been sued before about some patents somehow involving their controllers and nothing happened then. Copper innovations are just trying to get some money out of them. It also seems odd that this didn't occur earlier, considering the length of time both consoles have been on the market.

Agreed, and as you say nothing will come of it. Why is everyone so sue-happy?

 

[Ian Dorsch]

This country? Seems pretty much the same everywhere. Also, there are a lot of people on the site from different countries and since no country is named in the article, I dont even know what "this country" is supposed to be.

The latest dispute comes from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, where Copper Innovations Group late last month filed suit against Nintendo and Sony for a patent it holds on a "Hand Held Computer Input Apparatus and Method."

Emphasis mine. "This country" is both my country of residence, the location of The Escapist/Themis Group and the country in which Sony and Nintendo were sued by Copper Innovations Group. That's what "this country" is supposed to be.

 

[DrmChsr0]

Wait, what?

Now why would they sue Sony, seeing as the PS3 was widely regarded by all as a flop...

 

[daemonire]

Here's some thread necromacy: only because I can't stand when I hear about something like this and then never learn the outcome.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_hi_te/nintendo_patent_dispute

Sorry for not having a link to a cool gamer site, but oh well. Long story short for those of you who don't feel like following links... Microsoft settled (surprise!) and Nintendo -lost- to the tune of 21M$.

Nothing about the aforementioned injunction though. I'd really hoped that most wii/gamecube controllers would be ripped off the market over this~ 'twould be madness.

 

[Aedrial]

What about Microsoft? Of course, this is a frivolous lawsuit, but I'm curious as to why Microsoft is not being sued... anybody know?

Probably already been hushed up. Money goes a long way sometimes.

 

[Pendragon9]

Oh yeah? Well, I'm suing all of them because I went back in time and patented the entire concept of these electronic devices.

Hello payday.

 

[oliveira8]

What about Microsoft? Of course, this is a frivolous lawsuit, but I'm curious as to why Microsoft is not being sued... anybody know?

Probably already been hushed up. Money goes a long way sometimes.

Yup shame on you.

 

[GodsOneMistake]

What about Microsoft? Of course, this is a frivolous lawsuit, but I'm curious as to why Microsoft is not being sued... anybody know?

Well if this is about the motion control thing, than Natal has nothing you hold in your hand. But if its just controllers in general... Not a clue

 

[SomeUnregPunk]

Does this mean every company that sells a bluetooth device, can be sued by these guys?

 

[Deleted]

They've got a patent on the remote control?

 

[Artlover]

How else would you sort device inputs?

Just off the top of my head I can come up with channel frequency and modulation patterns. Two old school wireless methods that have been around for half a century and are still used today in many products. Could also try random serialized data streams, in which the serial has nothing to do with hardware ID's. There is really no shortage of different ways it has/can/is being done.

Anywho. This wouldn't be the first time Sony and Nintendo (and MS for that matter) has stolen other people's work. Ok, ok, I'll try to be generous here: independantly developed said technologies but failed to check if anyone else did it first. In either case, it's very easy for huge companies like Sony to simply not care because they have the money and man power to fight it, even when they know they are in the wrong. Look at the Immersion lawsuits. MS not only settled, but bought stock in their company. Sony continued to fight it through 2 appeals before finally settling 5 years later. (Read: Sony couldn't con their way through any court they were in, and Immersion never went bankrupt trying to defend themselves, so they had no choice in the end but to accept responsibility).

Anyone ever see "Flash of Genius". That's the way it works folks, that's the way it's always worked. It's great to see companies like Immersion and Copper Innovations taking a stand against this kind of corperate theft, and it's even better when they win and get what is justifiably theirs' (as in the case of immersion).