Judge rules for Sony in $500m controller lawsuit

Sony has successfully won a patent infringement lawsuit in which it was being sued for $500 million for its controller-to-console communication method.

The lawsuit was initially filed against Sony in 2017 by Genuine Enabling Technology (GET), which claimed that Sony had infringed on its patent in the way its controllers and consoles connect to one another.

However, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, a US District Court judge has now ruled in Sony’s favour, deciding it didn’t infringe on the patent.

One of the main complaints in GET’s suit was that PlayStation consoles and controllers submit a ‘slow-varying’ frequency signal for button inputs, and a higher frequency signal for motion controls.

According to GET, no device was able to receive both signals at the same time until its patent provided the solution.

Sony’s argument was that GET had failed to prove that a specific component in its controllers was “structurally equivalent” to the diagrams in GET’s patent.

The judge agreed and, saying that GET had “failed to raise a dispute of fact”, found in Sony’s favour, ruling that it hadn’t infringed on the patent and that the case was now closed.

As GI.biz points out, GET still has a similar lawsuit ongoing against Nintendo. This suit was also found in Nintendo’s favour in 2020 but the decision was reversed in 2022 by the US Court of Appeals and is still ongoing.