Nokia, Nintendo and Sony struck in wireless patent spat
IP holder alleges PSP, DS, N85 infringement
Friday the 13th is always a dodgy day - for the paranoid at least. And for Sony, Nintendo and Nokia, it seems - it was the day that a US firm chose to file a patent violation lawsuit claiming all three of them have trampled over wireless data transfer technology it owns.
Wall Wireless LLC, a Texas-based firm, is attempting to sue the trio for allegedly infringing upon its patent – number 6,640,086, granted in the US in 2003 – entitled “Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet”.
Gaming title Edge has seen associated documents and reported that the patent describes techqniques that "allow an operator to distribute messages having aural or visual content that is generated by the operator using handheld apparatuses such as mobile phones”.
The long and short of which is that Wall Wireless claims that Sony’s PlayStation Portable, Nintendo’s DS and several Nokia phones – including the N95, N93 and N82 – all use said techniques, but without Wall Wirless' say-so.
Wall Wireless is seeking a permanent injunction and a whole ratchet of costs, including for damages, expenses and legal fees.
A rebuttal from Sony, Nokia or Nintendo is yet to be seen. ®
COMMENTS
WTF?
I don't really understand the patent laws involved, but surely if a product is made by someone in 1940, a patent by someone else in 2003 is not valid.
Yes, Motorola made a fully handheld device that distributed aural messages in 1940. The "Handie-Talkie", which actually has a trademark (and likely patents too).
Bit late
Surely the DS/PSP/N-series have been doing this for... 4 years? If they didn't feel the need to protect their "IP" back then, why should they do it now? Oh, I know why - it's because there's more devices out there infringing, so they can get more money! It's not like they can say "oh we didn't know these obscure devices existed until now". I think if you don't protect your IP, after a year of an "infringer" being in the market you lose all rights your patent.
title
the people who grant these patents must be half to blame... and does my all 4 one remote control fall under this.. that recieves messages from the donor remote and displays a flashing conformation to say that its learnt the code! or howabout the cb radio on my boat? my mobile? they are handheld devices - distributing aural messages from a handheld device... is this company going to sue pretty every manufacturor that has used any sort of transmission...
someone invents something quite farout, it maybe rubs shoulders with an established idea, but not in a tangiable way... said inventor gets shot down in flames...
someone patents something like this, which as far as i can see doesnt allow anyone to transmit or recieve data wirelessly at all... and the patent officer just rubber stamps it! i guess the application was filed around 4:30 on a friday afternoon....
I wonder if i can patent the idea of patent trolling and sue them??
Tosh.
""allow an operator to distribute messages having aural or visual content that is generated by the operator using handheld apparatuses such as mobile phones”". ....
isn't this "anything you hear and anything you see...."
Tosh, once again. Utter tosh.
Success?
I think getting paid to shut up again generally counts as success in these cases, yes.
