Target Technology sues Sony for Blu-ray-related patent infringement

As if Sony's legal team hasn't dealt with enough this year already, they're getting dialed up yet again for alleged patent infringement, and this time the California-based Target Technology Company is the one pointing the finger. Apparently, the firm is suing several segments of Sony for "deliberately and willfully" infringing on a patent that Target was granted in 2006. The plaintiff claims that products "marketed under the Blu-ray name infringed on a patent for reflective layer materials in optical discs," and more explicitly, "specific types of silver-based alloys with the advantages (but not the price) of gold." The suit was actually filed as an "intellectual property" matter rather than one of chemical imbalances, and while Target Technology is purportedly seeking a "permanent injunction preventing Sony from violating its patent rights in the future, as well as damages with interest," we won't be surprised if a sizable check from Sony's wallet makes this all disappear.

[Via GameSpot, thanks Evan]

[Coyote @ May 25th 2007 8:24AM]

Ah good ol Californian law. Where you can file a patent for an already developed technology and still convince a judge your sane. Its sad that paying these jerks off is cheaper than teaching them a lesson.

[Crayola @ May 25th 2007 8:37AM]

Please torched those patent trolls on a stake... When they see value on those dusty commercialized patents, they come crawling out.

[b1tchell @ May 25th 2007 8:43AM]

"Cheque" not "check"

[Tim @ May 25th 2007 8:48AM]

Nice try at being an ass, but either way is correct. Considering this is an article about something in America, check is actually the better choice anyway because it is the American way of spelling the word.

[XeroAF @ Jun 18th 2007 4:49PM]

you ARE an ignorant brit. the plaintiff is from california and they are suing over a patent IN THE U.S.A. i cant explain it to you further lest i use the Queen's english, but i refuse. tool.

[b1tchell @ Jun 18th 2007 5:15PM]

If you want to insult me, at least use proper punctuation. Allow me to correct it for you.

You ARE an ignorant Brit. The plaintiff is from California and they are suing over a patent IN THE U.S.A. I can't explain it to you further lest I use the Queen's English, but I refuse. Tool.

[b1tchell @ May 25th 2007 9:19AM]

Oh yes I forgot that Sony is an American Company, oh wait no it's not is it.
Please excuse me for being such an ignorant Brit who uses the Queens English.

[Frankenstein Black @ May 25th 2007 9:04AM]

WTF? I'm in the wrong business. You mean all I have to do is "search n snatch" and I become an instant Millionaire? F Lotto! The outcome going this route is more predictable...

[Alex @ May 25th 2007 10:15AM]

How about you figure out how to say check/cheque in Japanese, then?

[Xenoterranos @ May 25th 2007 10:28AM]

Well, we had a bit of a tussle (i guess you'd call it a row) a few years back that says we's don't need to use ya'lls queen's english no more. So suck it.

[borland502 @ May 25th 2007 11:27AM]

Apology accepted you bloody wanker. I knew you were joking since nobody in their right mind would defend the integrity of the [insert monarch gender title] English. An honest English speaker would have to credit the Dutch, the Normans, the Vikings, the Saxons, and the Romans for creating the mongrel language we know today. No language is safe from modifications, but English has been used and abused like a 2p. hooker.

[EatingPie @ May 25th 2007 9:25AM]

Seems like bringing a FOUR YEAR OLD Japanese Blu-Ray player in might kindasorta help the case.

Yes, Blu-Ray was deployed in Japan about 4 years back, though it was recordable-only, and the discs were in cartridges. Apparently nobody mentioned this to the judge.

-Pie

[ElvisLives @ May 25th 2007 9:40AM]

Patent law is Federal law, not state law. Whether Target is located in California, some other state, or some other country has no bearing on the issue.

[majortom1981 @ May 25th 2007 9:40AM]

I think this has to deal with that protective coating that was put on blue ray discs so that you wouldnt need the cartridge.

The patent was just granted in 2006 so how does this make them patent trolls?

[catfish @ May 25th 2007 12:30PM]

because it is (arguably, im not too familiar with the technology myself) such an obvious patent that has been in use for years. A more egregious example: not too long ago someone was awarded a patent for organizing a list in alphabetic order on a digital device...

[Liqwid @ May 25th 2007 10:08AM]

Durabis? Then they'd be going after TDK, right?

[Whackmushrooms @ May 25th 2007 10:29AM]

i hope they win so that then Target Corp. you know the store .. can sue them for trademark rape.

[TheGuyNextDoor @ May 25th 2007 12:06PM]

How many more f*$£ing stupid patents are out there that some complete nobody company or person will try and use to their financial gain??

Can I patent "The breathing of air by a set of lungs or lung-type organs", and then I can sue all yo' a$$es!

[McGinley @ May 25th 2007 12:45PM]

Are you God?

[TheGuyNextDoor @ May 29th 2007 4:01AM]

Yes... yes I am! :)

[saycheese @ May 25th 2007 11:18AM]

You idiots screaming foul should first bother to read the article and try to understand what it is all about.

This patent is not about the hard coat applied on the Blu-Ray discs. It is about the technology used to make the reflective layer INSIDE the disc - the coating that actually reflects the laser from the Optical Pickup Unit (OPU). Target Technologies licenses its technology to a lot of companies, Sony being one (used it in its DVDs).

Sony needed to use a higher reflective coat on the dual layer BD50 discs to improve the read-accuracy of their optical pickup. This technology that they "used" was patented by Target, and Sony needs to pay a royalty or license the tech from Target. But Sony might have considered that since they were already a licensee of Target's technology used in it's DVDs, they did not need to license this particular technology.

Ergo, the lawsuit. Target is infact doing the right thing by defending its intellectual property. If they don't, they would lose the patents. Sony should pay up or put up with having to stop illegally using Target's technology.

[steve @ May 25th 2007 11:32AM]

If the tech is used in DVDs, wouldn't this tech be old? so why was this applied for in 2004?

[saycheese @ May 25th 2007 11:53AM]

Not the same technology per se.. but I was saying that Sony was a licensee of Target's technologies used in its DVDs, and that for Blu-Ray, Sony did not bother licensing the specific technology that was patented by Target. Two separate technologies.. one was licensed, and one was not. Hence the lawsuit on the unlicensed usage of Target's IP.

Come to think of it, why couldn't Target just wait till Blu-Ray annihilated HD-DVD and established itself as the de facto standard for next-gen optical discs? They would stand to gain much more money if they sued Sony later. But, by suing Sony NOW, Target is actually doing the right thing by trying to prevent misuse of its technology ASAP. I would say that Sony should do the right thing, and pony up the cash, just like it did with Immersion. It is only fair.

[Stephan @ May 25th 2007 11:55AM]

Wouldn't it be funny if Target sued Target Tech for infringing on their copyrighted name?

[LandMineHare @ May 25th 2007 12:51PM]

Obviously not, because then he wouldn't have posted that because he wouldn't exist.

[Nfinity @ May 25th 2007 12:56PM]

Jeez, when I read comments by some people here, the sheer ignorance just completely blows me away. I don't really know if it's because the posters are juvenile, very young or just plain stupid and completely lack the capacity for thinking.

This happens of course when you don't get out a lot, don't read books and develop common sense logic, but instead you watch TV, read press releases from only one company and are just plain ignorant.


Case here is COMPLETELY VALID. They should sue Sony's ASS OFF.

For those with very low IQs here that keep yelling patent whores, I highly suggest that you keep your mouth shut when you speak to someone in real life, cause you are the most dangerous type of people. Completely uneducated in matters, you don't even read the information and have no understanding of how something works in related matter, yet you scream just to be heard with completely idiotic remarks.

Patents are bad, no question about it, however in this case, it is why they were invented. Target Technology is defending their own technology so Sony and the likes couldn't just replicate it and say it's theirs and it's simple as that. Apple's patents are mostly BS for example. Patenting a spinning wheel or dragging finger over glass to list an item on an electronic device is WRONG.

This case is clear as day. Target Tech shouldn't have no problem getting money, cause they certainly deserve it.

[saycheese @ May 25th 2007 3:32PM]

The patent in question here is regarding using a specific material in the reflective layer of an optical disc to obtain increased accuracy in reading the data on a disc. Target Technologies were awarded the patent for the coming up with the idea of using THIS particular material in the reflective layer.

Sony so conveniently has chosen to use the patented technology in its Blu-Ray dual layer 50GB discs to combat the problems they were having in reading the data accurately. So, Sony has chosen to borrow a technique patented by someone to solve their problems, but without the courtesy of paying a fee.

Whose fault is this lawsuit? Sony's or Target Technologies' ?

[myscrnnm @ May 25th 2007 6:52PM]

In that case why aren't they suing Philips? They pretty much developed Blu-ray Disc with Sony. Not to mention TDK develops most of the media.

[no.2 @ May 26th 2007 7:53AM]

I should consider patenting a masturbation method I've developed over the years that increases your penis size over time.