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Forums - Sony - Sony Rumble Lawsuit Back, Guy Claims Sony Ripped Him Off

Noobie on 19 May 2009

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LEGAL

Sony Rumble Lawsuit Back, Guy Claims Sony Ripped Him Off

By Luke Plunkett, 7:00 PM on Mon May 18 2009, 8,335 views

In 2007, Sony settled a long-running dispute with Immersion, a company holding patents for control pad rumble technology. The world moved on. But now, the lawsuit (or at least part of it) is back.

A guy by the name of Craig Thorner, an engineer who held a few patents related to rumble tech, was a witness in the case, who helped Sony in their attempts to " invalidate Immersion's patents".

Now, two years later, Thorner is suing Sony.

He claims that, shortly after the original Sony/Immersion suit was filed, a company by the name of Performance Designed Products LLC got in touch with him, claiming that, like Sony, they'd been targeted by Immersion's lawyers. PDP asked for his help.

In the process of providing that help, Thorner says he licensed some of his own patents to PDP, and in doing so enlisted the help of some layers. The same lawyers who, it turns out, were in the process of handling Sony's case against Immersion. Those lawyers, Thorner alleges, "encouraged him to accept terms that were less than favorable".

Those terms included a big reduction in the amount of royalty fees he was asking for, along with a provision that would allow not just PDP - but, importantly, Sony as well - to license his patents.

Thorner is now accusing Sony and PDP of working together, scheming to acquire his patents on the cheap, and is suing the pair of them for legal malpractice, as well as suing Sony for patent infringement.

http://kotaku.com/5260187/sony-rumble-lawsuit-back-guy-claims-sony-ripped-him-off

funny something just can't die. :)



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ssj12 on 19 May 2009

Kotaku is slow as heck, GamePolitics had this story like a month ago...



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Noobie on 19 May 2009
ssj12 said:
Kotaku is slow as heck, GamePolitics had this story like a month ago...

Any progress on this.? or some statement by Sony or others?



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PullusPardus on 19 May 2009



Infamy79 on 19 May 2009

I thought Microsoft were supposed to be the ones who did things like this

If they're guilty I hope they have to pay up big and the lawyers are disbarred. I have a friend who was screwed out of millions due to a lawyer who was working for both parties so I have no sympathy for those maggots.



Never argue with idiots
They bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience

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Phrancheyez on 19 May 2009

He's upset because the lawyer CONVINCED him to take lower royalties and CONVINCED him to allow PDP and Sony to license his patents.

Keyword is convinced..not forced. I have no sympathy for this guy. If you're ever in a patent dispute with a big company, theres a lot of money involved. I'm reading every word of the contract regardless of how much I trust my lawyer. And I'm not going to take less money because someone said they 'think I should'.

What's this guys problem? He's too lazy and he wasn't greedy enough. This is America..if you do someone a favor, they're going to walk on you as soon as they don't need you. Business is cutthroat. If you haven't figured that out, I suggest you move away from America or get out of the business of dealing with large companies/corporations.



ssj12 on 19 May 2009
Noobie said:
ssj12 said:
Kotaku is slow as heck, GamePolitics had this story like a month ago...

Any progress on this.? or some statement by Sony or others?

 

Nope, none at all yet.



PC gaming is better than console gaming. Always.     We are Anonymous, We are Legion    Kick-ass interview   Great Flash Series Here    Anime Ratings     Make and Play Please
Amazing discussion about being wrong
Official VGChartz Folding@Home Team #109453
 
Infamy79 on 19 May 2009
Phrancheyez said:
He's upset because the lawyer CONVINCED him to take lower royalties and CONVINCED him to allow PDP and Sony to license his patents.

Keyword is convinced..not forced. I have no sympathy for this guy. If you're ever in a patent dispute with a big company, theres a lot of money involved. I'm reading every word of the contract regardless of how much I trust my lawyer. And I'm not going to take less money because someone said they 'think I should'.

What's this guys problem? He's too lazy and he wasn't greedy enough. This is America..if you do someone a favor, they're going to walk on you as soon as they don't need you. Business is cutthroat. If you haven't figured that out, I suggest you move away from America or get out of the business of dealing with large companies/corporations.

Clearly from your signature you're a Sony fanboy, however I fail to see how you can defend this if it's true, especially given your pathetic justification.

People hire lawyers for their advice. I'm sure you know sweet fuck all about patent law or most any other law at all, so you'd hire a lawyer to advise you if you have a complaint. If the lawyer you hire is working for the other guy and advises you to settle then there is a conflict of interest and it won't stand up in court. If his accusations are true, then he will be compensated.

 



Never argue with idiots
They bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience

MrBubbles on 19 May 2009

he might have a case. would need to know more



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ramses01 on 19 May 2009

IF the claims are true, then Sony and the law firm are in trouble. This might get expensive when punative damages are thrown in.