| A small American company closed the Japanese corporation's sales market in the United States The famous Japanese corporation Sony may soon lose one of its main markets for PlayStation game consoles. A court in California recently ordered the company to stop selling consoles in the United States and pay a fine of $90.7 million to the small firm Immersion Corporation as compensation for illegal plagiarism. According to the BBC, three years ago an American company accused Sony of violating a patent for game joysticks for consoles and won the corresponding court case. Having appealed the decision and thus received a reprieve, Sony continued to sell consoles in the United States.
The scandal erupted around vibration technology, which is fundamental for console manufacturers, which relates to touch-sensitive developments. Immersion's patented invention ensures that the joystick vibrates during the game in accordance with the dynamics of events.
Three years ago, the court ordered a division of the Japanese corporation Sony Computer Entertainment, specializing in computer game technologies, to pay Immersion Corporation $82 million. Compared to the income of the Californian company - $23.8 million at the end of last year - the amount is quite large. In this case, the outcome of the proceedings is of fundamental importance for both parties to the dispute. If Immersion wins, it will be able to receive an additional three times annual revenue. And for Sony, this is a question of both reputation and a huge market for game consoles.
However, despite another loss, the Japanese corporation intends to continue the litigation and prove the authenticity of the invention. She is convinced that the Dual Shock remote control for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles does not violate the patent. “We do not agree with this decision and will appeal to the US Supreme Court,” said one of the representatives of the corporation’s press service in Tokyo. Denis UVAROV |
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