Microsoft has won a court case launched in 2004 against the company and its competitor Sony, according to a report from Gamasutra.

The companies were accused of infringing on a 1994 patent owned by Harold Milton Jr., which related to "apparatus and method for electrically connecting remotely located video games," or to put it simply online multiplayer gaming.

The plaintiffs claimed that Microsoft infringed on the patent with Xbox Live and Sony with PlayStation Network, and while Sony settled out of court in early 2009 Microsoft continued the case, last week seeing the court rule in their favor.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul D. Borman ruled that the plaintiffs would recover nothing, that the action be dismissed and that Microsoft could collect legal fees from the plaintiffs, as the patent used the term "electrical connection" to describe the way in which players would play video games with others remotely. The court ruled that Xbox Live does not use an electrical connection for communication.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/29728/Microsoft_Wins_Xbox_Patent_Battle.php

Honestly this whole lawsuit was rediculous.

i......i'mma go patent Transparent Colored, fresh salt-free liquids.

Online multiplayer is a patent? Then this guy theoretically thinks he owns the internet, because multiplayer is just the internet, if you look at it in its purest form

i wonder how much sony paid them

Poor Sony. Such a frivilous lawsuit, and yet they pay the guy off. Seriously, this is rediculous, and Microsoft had the smarts to know that.