Breaking: Sony Settles With Immersion, Enters Into Business Agreement

March 01, 2007 | By: James Brightman

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And we thought this day would never come. Immersion and Sony Computer Entertainment have settled their differences and entered into a business agreement. Exactly what that means for the future of rumble in a PS3 controller is not yet known, however. [Update: SCEA responds]

Force feedback specialists Immersion Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) have announced that the two companies have decided to settle their patent litigation at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The two companies have "entered into a new business agreement to explore the inclusion of Immersion technology in PlayStation format products."

"We are pleased to have put this litigation behind us," said Immersion CEO Victor Viegas. "Our new business agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment is specifically intended to enable advanced vibration capability for the benefit of the PlayStation gaming community. We are happy to provide our technology in this regard and hope to make technical proposals very soon with respect to use of our technology in the PlayStation products."

"We look forward to exploring with Immersion exciting new ways to bring the largest and best range of gameplay experiences to our customers," said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group Chief Operating Officer, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "We are very excited about our new partnership with Immersion and the potential for new and innovative products incorporating their technologies."

As you probably recall, Immersion sued SCE for designing and selling DualShock controllers, which was a violation of Immersion's force feedback patent. Sony was ordered to pay $91 million to Immersion, and then Sony appealed the decision.

Following today's settlement, "Immersion will receive the amount of the judgment entered by the District Court, which includes damages, pre-judgment interest, costs, and interest, in addition to retaining compulsory license fees ordered by the District Court which were already paid."

Furthermore, the business agreement between the two parties also provides SCE with "certain new rights with respect to Immersion's patent portfolio." At this point it's not clear if that means we'll be seeing a new PS3 controller with rumble functionality, but the settlement certainly makes it a possibility. Interestingly, Sony also noted that "the conclusion of this litigation and the agreement will have no material impact on Sony's consolidated earnings forecast announced on January 30, 2007."

We'll bring you more on this news as soon as we can.

[UPDATE] GameDaily BIZ contacted Sony Computer Entertainment America for comment, and while the words PS3 and rumble were not used, Dave Karraker, Sr. Director, Corporate Communications did issue the following statement: "We are very pleased to have reached a cooperative agreement with Immersion regarding the use of its advanced vibration technology (haptics technology). We look forward to working closely with them as we explore new and innovative ways to utilize this technology in PlayStation products."

We're still awaiting further comment from Immersion and we will bring that to you when possible.

[UPDATE 2] In Immersion's form 8-K, the company revealed that Sony will pay quarterly installments of $1,875,000 (for a total of $22,500,000) beginning on March 31, 2007 and ending on December 31, 2009; Sony will also pay Immersion certain other fees and royalty amounts. In addition, Immersion has agreed not to sue Sony or enforce the original permanent injunction that was issued back in March 2005.