Patent suit filed against Sony over Blu-ray

Patent suit filed against Sony over Blu-ray

Is there a product made by Sony that hasn’t incurred a lawsuit? This latest lawsuit is levied towards Sony and about 30 more companies regarding possible patent infringements by Blu-ray and other products.

Gertrude Neumark Rothschild filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission on 20th February (the day after Toshiba announced they were dumping HD DVD (”It’s not you, it’s me”) coincidentally) concerning short-wavelength light-emitting diodes like those used in Blu-ray players, handheld devices and even traffic lights.

I’m not sure if this is a frivolous suit or not. The patent was filed in the late 1980s but specifically notes “green laser” while Blu-ray is violet-blue. Neumark Rothschild is a professor emeritus at Columbia University, and she is not seeking compensation but rather the suspension of such devices from being imported into the United States. The timing is suspect, however.

Other parties named in the complaint include Motorola, Nokia, LG Electronics, and Matsushita Electric (parent of Panasonic).

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