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Immersion to pay Microsoft over controller dispute

27 August 2008 14:18 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 12 comments

Immersion has agreed to settle a long-standing legal dispute with Microsoft over the "rumble" feature of its Xbox controllers.

The software giant was sued in 2002 over the alleged patent infringement and then agreed to pay Immersion $26 million USD to settle out of court.

Immersion also sued Sony over the same issue and the suit was resolved last year with Sony agreeing to pay Immersion $22.5 million over the next three years and almost $100 million in royalties and patent license fees.

However, making the news today is the fact that Immersion's settlement with Microsoft included a clause that the software giant would receive a slice of of any settlement with Sony, with a minimum of $15 million USD as the payout. Because Immersion felt their deal with Sony did not trigger the clause they refused to pay Microsoft. Microsoft then sued and have now won.

"We are pleased to resolve our outstanding dispute with Microsoft and to put this litigation behind us," said Immersion president and chief executive Clent Richardson.

"We are pleased to have reached a resolution to our legal dispute with Immersion that includes a $20.75 million payment to Microsoft," Steve Aeschbacher, an associate general counsel for Microsoft, in a statement. "We are gratified that we have successfully resolved our claims under the 2003 settlement we negotiated with Immersion, which provided benefits to both companies and specific rights to Microsoft."

Permalink to this article | Topics: Consoles Lawsuits & Legislation

Sony sued over PS3 feedback patents (24 April 2009)

Xbox 360 sales up 100 percent since price cut, says Microsoft (11 September 2008)

Microsoft slashes Xbox 360 prices in Japan (2 September 2008)

Hyundai IT booth raided at IFA event (1 September 2008)

Nintendo has no comment on new DS rumors (28 August 2008)

DualShock 3 gets approval from FCC (23 November 2007)

DualShock 3 with rumble finally confirmed for the PS3 (20 September 2007)

SIXAXIS rumble controller will feature 'Touch Sense'? (7 July 2007)

Nokia licenses touch screen technology to compete with iPhone (3 July 2007)

Microsoft sues Immersion for contract breach (19 June 2007)

Sony would consider changing SIXAXIS controller (9 March 2007)

Sony to use Immersion technology (4 March 2007)

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Discuss this article!
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 27 August 2008 15:55
nice....thats what you get for not reading the contract :P [ + quote]
DXR88 (Member) 27 August 2008 16:22
*Quote:* However, making the news today is the fact that Immersion's settlement with Microsoft included a clause that the software giant would receive a slice of of any settlement with Sony, with a minimum of $15 million USD as the payout. Because Immersion felt their deal with Sony did not trigger the clause they refused to pay Microsoft. Microsoft then sued and have now won. thats interesting almost makes immersion, look like they were employed by MS to file a lawsuit to get sony's money. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 27 August 2008 16:24
*Quote:* *Quote:* However, making the news today is the fact that Immersion's settlement with Microsoft included a clause that the software giant would receive a slice of of any settlement with Sony, with a minimum of $15 million USD as the payout. Because Immersion felt their deal with Sony did not trigger the clause they refused to pay Microsoft. Microsoft then sued and have now won. thats interesting almost makes immersion, look like they were employed by MS to file a lawsuit to get sony's money. I read it as sony will be getting some money to, or am I wrong? [ + quote]
ooZEROoo (Senior Member) 27 August 2008 16:42
If all this is over the "rumble" feature in game console controllers then why didn't Nintendo also get sued? [ + quote]
gallagher (Member) 28 August 2008 0:19
*Originally posted by ooZEROoo:* If all this is over the "rumble" feature in game console controllers then why didn't Nintendo also get sued? They can; they just haven't yet. One at a time. Microsoft, then Sony, now Nintendo. [ + quote]
DXR88 (Member) 28 August 2008 0:27
*Quote:* I read it as sony will be getting some money to, or am I wrong? i think mews brain is bad =^^= Lick [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 28 August 2008 1:57
*Quote:* *Quote:* I read it as sony will be getting some money to, or am I wrong? i think mews brain is bad =^^= Lick mmm fuzzy bwains nom [ + quote]
emugamer (Member) 28 August 2008 11:48
Sue happy Sally's :P What's a few million among friends? [ + quote]
SProdigy (Member) 28 August 2008 12:59
Not many people like MS, but I love the irony of this story. Good for MS. Companies like Immersion need to learn. Their legal team should've contacted MS and Sony's teams long before the product came to store shelves. It's not like the console releases are top secret information. Instead, they wait months or years and then sue for back royalties. I'm also sure that MS and Sony aren't that ignorant to have overlooked the patents too, so Immersion had to be hiding under a rock to pull that off. I'm glad MS is able to stick it back to them. [ + quote]
Hardwyre (Newbie) 28 August 2008 14:36
Woot. Go Microsoft and their team of lawyers! (They're paid in free software support.) :D [ + quote]
pcaddict (Inactive) 29 August 2008 4:08
*Originally posted by Hardwyre:* Woot. Go Microsoft and their team of lawyers! (They're paid in free software support.) :D lol [ + quote]
DDR4life (Junior Member) 30 August 2008 20:05
*Originally posted by ooZEROoo:* If all this is over the "rumble" feature in game console controllers then why didn't Nintendo also get sued? Immersion sued all three console makers because of that self same "rumble" feature. Nintendo, if memory serves, was quick to settle out of court. Microsoft, among other things, settled with (and invested in) the company, again, out of court. But Sony, dear, lovable, honest-to-goodness, never greedy, Sony denied any and all patent infringement charges filed against them. If I recall correctly, they claimed that the force-feedback (rumble) was their own devising and decided to fight the charges in court. Sony however lost the court case (spectacularly, I might add) and was ordered to pay. I just didn't know that Microsoft would end up getting some of that Sony money. Excuse me, this is definitely a "rotf-lmfao" moment. I shall now proceed to do just that. [ + quote]