Sony sued for patent infringement

Sony Corporation finds itself entangled in yet another patent infringement lawsuit. Target Technology Company (TTC), a California based electronic component manufacturing company, has sued Sony Computer Entertainment America, Sony Pictures, and Sony DADC, claiming that Sony’s Blu-Ray (BD) disc infringes upon its patents.

A Blu-Ray disc is a high-density optical disc format designed for the storage of digital media, including high-definition videos. A Blu-Ray disc can store more data than a DVD disc, because a blue-violet ray of shorter wavelength is used to read/write this disc. A single layer BD can store up to 25 GB of data, while a double layer BD can store 50 GB. It also offers high data transfer speeds.

Target Technology Company claims that it holds a patent for the reflective layer materials in optical discs, which was filed in March 2004 and approved in April 2006.

TTC also alleges that Blu-Ray disc has used the same technology, though without permission. In doing so, TTC’s patent has been willfully infringed. TTC now seeks monetary damages and a permanent injunction against Sony.

Though TTC has filed a suit against Sony only, other companies have also indulged in BD replication, reportedly.

In a similar patent infringement case, a couple of months ago, which witnessed Sony being accused by Immersion Corporation; Sony had to pay $97 million in damages. In that particular case, the latter had claimed that it owned patents used for the development of the Dual Shock rumble features in Sony’s PlayStation and PlayStation 2 controllers.