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Microsoft Government The Courts Entertainment Games News

Microsoft Sues Immersion Over Rumble Deal 48

Waaay back in 2003, Microsoft settled with Immersion over the rumble technology found in their Xbox game controllers. Now, Microsoft is filing suit against Immersion, claiming that the company has not paid Microsoft 'based on certain business and IP licensing arrangements.' CNet has the release, and links over to a Seattle PI blog entry with some investigative digging by Todd Bishop. "One provision of the Microsoft-Immersion settlement wasn't reported widely at the time, if at all: Microsoft negotiated rights to a payment from Immersion -- a refund, of sorts -- if Immersion settled its case with Sony ... Here's where the new dispute arises: On March 1, nearly four years after the Microsoft settlement, Sony and Immersion announced that they had 'agreed to conclude their patent litigation at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and have entered into a new business agreement to explore the inclusion of Immersion technology in PlayStation format products.' ... while Immersion and Sony have agreed to conclude their patent litigation, they don't use the word 'settlement,' describing it instead as a business agreement."
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Microsoft Sues Immersion Over Rumble Deal

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  • Legal Insanity 101 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MeanderingMind ( 884641 ) * on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @01:44PM (#19567425) Homepage Journal
    Step 1) By some miracle, weasel a provision into your settlement that forces the other company to pay you some money if your biggest competitor also settles.
    Step 2) In a humorous turn of events, watch as the other company reaches a "business agreement" and weasels you out of your money.
    Step 3) People's Court.

    Get out the popcorn, this is going to be the weaseldom battle of the century.
    • by Applekid ( 993327 ) on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @01:47PM (#19567477)
      Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel.
    • Not only did MS pay Immersion 26M to settle they also bought part of the company. The 26M was probably to continue using rumble tech in the Xbox controllers and buying part of the company was to lock Sony out. Seems like a shrewd move on MS' part. Pretty smart now considering.

      Swi
      • by Keeper ( 56691 )
        A $26M stake in the company is nowhere near a controlling interest. And their agreement has no provisions to lock Sony out. The lawsuit isn't about keeping Sony from using rumble, it's about being paid ~$27.5m under their contract terms.
    • by suv4x4 ( 956391 ) on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @06:04PM (#19571531)
      Legal Insanity 101

      Step 1) By some miracle, weasel a provision into your settlement that forces the other company to pay you some money if your biggest competitor also settles.


      If you don't understand the reasons behind this, doesn't mean it's "insanity".

      The story is quite logical and sensible if you read more into it.

      At the time Microsoft was still beginning its entry into the gaming console market. When Immersion sued them, Microsoft's lawyers analyzed the patent and how this applies to XBox and PlayStation2.

      They realized that if Immersion is persistent enough, they'll win out in such a case. But "to be persistent" in the current legal system means you gotta have lots and lots of cache to fund this persistence.

      At the same time Immersion was doing quite bad financially and only had a few million dollars profits for the entire year. They needed cash badly.

      So Microsoft figured: if they offer enough cash