Sony Fined 18.5 Million in Patent Lawsuit

A judge found today that electronics giant Sony willfully infringed on a patent held by smaller US-based electronics company Agere Systems. Ownership of the patent, which describes aspects of a "wireless local area network apparatus," as well as "A data protocol for use in storing pre-recorded audio in memory of an integrated circuit chip," was initially disputed by Sony when the case was first brought before the courts two years ago. In the intervening time, however, the court found that Agere did indeed have rightful ownership of the patent, and that elements of the adhoc wifi capability in the PSP handheld gaming system infringed on Agere's rights. Sony has been ordered to pay a sum of $18.5 million in damages to the smaller company.

[Source: PSP Fanboy]

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