Sony wins patent infringement case for controller, and plaintiff’s $500 million claim is rejected.

March 28, the technology giant Sony won a patent infringement lawsuit regarding the connection method of its controllers to the console, avoiding a potential compensation of up to $500 million.

This lawsuit began in 2017, when the plaintiff, Genuine Enabling Technology (GET) company, accused Sony of infringing its patents related to the connection of controllers and consoles. However, according to GamesIndustry.biz, the US district court judge rejected GET’s lawsuit, ruling that Sony did not infringe.

One of GET’s main accusations is that PlayStation controllers send two different frequencies of signals to the console: low-frequency signals for button operations, and higher-frequency signals for motion sensing operations. GET claimed that no other device could receive both signals before they proposed their patent solution.

Sony argued that GET failed to demonstrate that specific components in its controller were structurally equivalent to the diagrams in its patent. The judge accepted Sony’s defense, believing that GET “failed to present a factual dispute,” ultimately ruling in Sony’s favor, finding no patent infringement, and closing the case.

It is worth noting that GET has also filed a similar lawsuit against another game console manufacturer, Nintendo. The lawsuit initially failed in 2020, but the US appellate court overturned the original judgment in 2022, and the case is still under trial.