Sony Computer Entertainment said yesterday that it had been fined $90 million (R561 million) and ordered to halt sales of its blockbuster PlayStation consoles in the US because of an alleged patent infringement.
The company had been ordered to pay damages to a US technology company, Immersion, but it would appeal the decision by a California federal court immediately, an Sony spokesperson said. Sony would continue to sell PlayStation pending a ruling on the appeal.
Immersion, a developer of digital touch technologies, charged that Sony infringed on its technology that made a game controller vibrate in synchrony with actions in the games being played, reports said.
"The order is regrettable," said the Sony spokesperson. "We will argue ... that we haven't committed any infringement."
The US is a key market for Sony as it seeks to get back on track after years of resting on its laurels while its rivals powered ahead to displace the once iconic company, which changed the way the world listened to music with its Walkman portable players.
The lawsuit brought by Immersion was first launched in 2002 when it said it had expanded its licensees in the gaming console market with partners such as MadCatz and Saitek.
"These partners have developed more than 40 touch-enabled gaming peripherals currently shipping for the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation platforms," the company said at the time.
Only last week, Sony launched a hand-held version of the PlayStation games console in the US market and was ramping up production to meet forecasts for PlayStation Portable, or PSP, sales of 3 million units in the US and Europe by the end of March.
Sony is the leader in home video game machines but the console market is dominated by Nintendo, which in December launched its DS console featuring a touch-sensitive double screen.
Sony Corporation has been struggling to secure profit in the tough global market. It has been lagging in the booming digital product market in which others such as Matsushita and Sharp have now become the dominant players.
As part of business revival plans, Sony has said that Howard Stringer, the head of Sony's US subsidiary, would replace Sony career man Nobuyuki Idei as chairman and chief executive on June 22.
Sony also picked Ryoji Chubachi, an engineer, as his deputy, promoting him to president and chief operating officer from executive deputy president.
Chubachi recently said it would be difficult for the Japanese electronics giant to hit its target of a 10 percent operating profit margin in the year to March 2007.