Sony settles Blu-Ray patent dispute.

It looks like Sony has settled the technology patent dispute with Columbia University Professor Emerita Gertrude Neumark Rothschild which involved the technology used for basic semiconductor technology used in current Blu-ray players.

[Bladestar]

Oo wow... so they did infringe on someone else patent... I really though it was one of those thousands of people just trying to make some quick cash... but this time Sony did try to take someone else work.

[anh_duong]

bladestar be serious man.. name me a big company that hasn't settled a patent dispute.. every company gets sued for patent disputes.. corporations are all the same i.e. driven by greed.

for a developer your eyes are very closed to reality.. you like a little frog in a well who only sees the world from one angle.. your comment in this post is a perfect example of this messed up mentality.

get a ps3 and you will lose this feeling of insecurity everytime sony does well.. as a developer i think your career will benefit to understand more about the ps3..

[decapitator]

There are about 10 or more companies involved and all you could think of is Sony ? Stop drinking that haterade bro.

[Bladestar]

"name me a big company that hasn't settled a patent dispute.. every company gets sued for patent disputes.. corporations are all the same i.e. driven by greed." I can't do that.. because I agree that all companies do this... but when it comes to this particular instance I didn't think it was true...

Also, you shouldn't be telling me that... tell that to those that Sony never do these kind of things.. and that only microsoft is to be blamed...

I believe there is no difference between companies... and to be honest... though I wouldn't want someone to take my work... overall this does not benefit humanity in general... many people file patents and freeze them so no one use them... while they do not anything with it... this stops progress.. and technologies that could help helping improve technology have to wait 10-20 years until it becomes public domain... if it wouldn't be because of patents we would probably be 10x more advance... because a company could grab someone else technology and mature it... instead of trying to find other alternatives... sometimes finding alternatives is not the solution... but maturing an existing technology.

[juuken]

Bladestar...what are you talking about?

[shazam]

prove to us that you are a dev. i dont think someone smart enough to have a degree can be as fanboyish as you.

edit

oh and shouldnt a Rothschild have enough money as it is? who is the real greedy one here?

[Bladestar]

@shazam - lol.... no point... I've done that before with people that asked me to do that... I've taken pictures of books.. diplomas... hell even a picture of my paycheck... hey... many of you don't think that microsoft has programmers.. because they like the xbox 360... so, why would you believe me... no point..

[Superfragilistic]

Yeah this makes me laugh for all the fanboys who say that MS steals everything and yet Sony never does (sued for BluRay), and nor does Nintendo (sued for rumble).

In the event that more proof were needed, this just shows that they're all as bad as one another, but as a pleasant result we're all better off as gamers as these ideas are allowed to be tinkered and improved beyond the original inventors. :)

As a note it wasn't just Sony that stole the technology, but just about every major electronics manufacturer worldwide including their recently vanquished HD nemesis Toshiba.

[RINGOFDEATH]

at Office Depot

[Condoleezza Rice]

This 1 person would bring down Blu Ray lol.

I wonder what the details of the settlement were...

[ip-student]

a small island.

[gtafan]

She probably worked for Microsoft. Every time Sony starts making money. Someone mysteriously comes out saying they patented the idea first. BS freaking freeloader.

[ip-student]

Dr. Rothschild did not work for MS and was a true innovator - her inventions made bluray possible. Of course Sony (and any other Bluray company) would prefer to not pay for the right to use the technology but when there is a clear infringement case - you settle. That is what Sony did.

Chill on the fanboi BS and just realize that corporations are looking to make as much money as possible (and that it is cheaper if you can avoid paying the license). Once you are caught you take a license and go about your business.

[Kyur4ThePain]

I agree to a certain extent.

I think a lot of large corporations also don't really look into possible infringements all that closely once they see an opening. It is probably something they build in as a future risk. If nobody comes out of the woodwork, good. If someone does, it's worth they're while to settle as the benefits far outweigh the cost.

[thehitman]

Good for her though she paved the way for blue ray Id want some money too if set up the foundation of the technology behind blue ray. Also Sony didnt really just steal her invention or work, but built upon it and used what she started. I guess like any other normal person would she wanted credit and money.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

That is how our economics is set up, plain and simple. Doesn't matter if you are MS, Sony or Nintendo. Because Sony settled doesn't mean that they infringed either. It might just mean that they weighed the cost and risk of going to court and figure it is cheaper to settle. Happens all the time...

People/companies try to make patents as vague as possible while the same time meet requirements to get the patent so they can all sue each other.

Edit: I just wanted to point out that the above comment is meant as a general one, not necessarily directed at this lawsuit.

[Seraphim]

"Professor Rothschild made a seminal breakthrough in understanding the doping requirements necessary for the production of the blue, green, violet and ultraviolet LEDs and LDs on a commercial and efficient scale that are essential to today's consumer electronics, and highly deserves this recognition for her work."

Sounds fishy and far fetched to me. But I guess we'll never know the details of anyway. I guess she had a strong enough case that the big name companies didn't want to waste the money and time fighting it. And depending on payout it may have been very well worth it to just pony up to have it said and done...