LG has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission this week, asking the ITC to block the import of the Sony PlayStation 3.
The company is claiming that the Blu-ray drive in every PS3 console violates multiple LG patents.
Sony, Sony Corporation of America, Sony Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment America are all cited in the complaint, says Cnet.
The patents in question relate to “the way a Blu-ray player reproduces data from a Blu-ray disc” and how it “reproduces multiple data streams by way of multiple camera angles.”
Finally, LG says Sony is violating a patent relating to the display of subtitles in Blu-ray films.
LG’s choice, over 1500 days after the PS3 launched in the U.S., seems like a direct retaliation for Sony’s complaint filed with the ITC late last year over patent violations in mobile phones.
Result for: sony corporation
A Judge has dismissed a case brought against Sony by a disabled gamer who claimed that people with disabilities were being denied access to Sony services. The gamer, Alexander Stern, had sued Sony Corporation of America, Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Online Entertainment because his visual processing impairments made it impossible to use video games created by Sony.
According to the complaint, “his visual processing impairments prevent him from fully enjoying the video games manufactured by Sony, some of which are played on gaming systems with internet connections through which players in different locations can communicate and play with or against one another.”
The reference to “gaming systems with internet connections through which players in different locations can communicate” is essentially an argument that it qualifies as “public accommodation”, which would be necessary for a discrimination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title III.
The court ruling denied that Sony services are a “place of public accommodation” and thus, cannot be held liable then for violating ADA Title III.
Result for: sony corporation
Nikko Citigroup analysts have upgraded their rating for Sony Corporation citing their anticipation that the company will break even or even turn a profit on the PlayStation 3 beginning in August.
If their prediction is accurate, then Sony will break even at least three months earlier than analysts had previously speculated. Sony itself was not sure when it would hit profitability on the console and Sony’s Kaz Hirai said that the company would was shooting for the fiscal year beginning April 2008.
Sony has always said that PS3 production costs will only ever hit break even point when the “65nm Cell processor and the 90nm are shrunk to smaller, cheaper-to-manufacture sizes, and that comes with the side effect of drawing less power and creating less heat.”
It should be interesting to see when profitability occurs because may lead to more price cuts for the consumer.
