Sony gets boned

Immersion, a haptic technology company sued both Sony and Microsoft for patent infringement in 2003. The case claimed they both used Immersion's ideas in their controllers. Microsoft managed to avoid things peacefully (expensively) but Sony went to court. Sony has lost and the court ruled Sony must suspend the sale of "Playstation consoles, Dualshock controllers," and a few dozens of games (Vice City, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2 and more). Sony filed for an appeal, and is allowed to sell their products while the decision is being made.

The Wall Street Journal this morning reported a federal judge rejected the appeal and upheld the original decision (including the $90.7 million payment). Sony's main defence; a former paid consultant to Immersion, Craig Thorner submitted testimony on Sony's behalf. The US District Judge Claudia Wilken stated that Thorner was "unreliable" as a witness, citing "strong evidence" to suggest Thorner's testimony was affected by the $150,000 Sony paid him as "advance royalty" to license Thorner's patents in the future.

It seems possible Sony may have to halt production on the Playstations, as well as many of the best-selling titles. This be the reason for Sony's boomerang PS3 controller. If the PS3 can't use the force feedback technology from the past, how will this affect backwards compatibility? Looks like someone's got a bumpy road to launch.

[Source]