This article is more than 1 year old

Nokia, Nintendo and Sony struck in wireless patent spat

IP holder alleges PSP, DS, N85 infringement

Friday the 13th is always a dodgy day - for the paranoid at least. And for Sony, Nintendo and Nokia, it seems - it was the day that a US firm chose to file a patent violation lawsuit claiming all three of them have trampled over wireless data transfer technology it owns.

Wall Wireless LLC, a Texas-based firm, is attempting to sue the trio for allegedly infringing upon its patent – number 6,640,086, granted in the US in 2003 – entitled “Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet”.

Gaming title Edge has seen associated documents and reported that the patent describes techqniques that "allow an operator to distribute messages having aural or visual content that is generated by the operator using handheld apparatuses such as mobile phones”.

The long and short of which is that Wall Wireless claims that Sony’s PlayStation Portable, Nintendo’s DS and several Nokia phones – including the N95, N93 and N82 – all use said techniques, but without Wall Wirless' say-so.

Wall Wireless is seeking a permanent injunction and a whole ratchet of costs, including for damages, expenses and legal fees.

A rebuttal from Sony, Nokia or Nintendo is yet to be seen. ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like