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14 June 2017Patents

Broadcom and Sony settle PlayStation patent dispute

Sony and Broadcom have settled a patent infringement disagreement centring on Sony’s gaming console PlayStation 4.

Broadcom filed the original complaint in June last year at the US District Court for the Central District of California.

It accused Sony of infringement relating to the continued use of patents after Sony’s portfolio licence with LSI, a company purchased by Avago Technologies, which then became Broadcom, expired in March 2014.

Broadcom added that the PlayStation 4 infringed ten of its patents covering activities such as decoding audio and video content.

The case centred on US patent numbers 5,870,087, relating to the PS4 system controller and graphics processor “capable of decoding video and other data”, as well as 6,744,387, relating to encoding video content.

Analog technology supplier Avago acquired LSI in 2014, before also buying Broadcom in 2016. Avago then became Broadcom, who sued Sony for patent infringement.

“Sony recognises the importance of the LSI patent portfolio. Sony has licensed certain portions of the patent portfolios of LSI and its predecessor companies for five decades,” said the claim.

It added that after the latest portfolio licence expired in March 2014, Sony continued to use the various technological advancements provided by the LSI patent portfolio, but “failed to compensate Broadcom for the use of these technologies and those of Broadcom”.

However, in a joint motion to dismiss on Friday, June 9, the companies requested “all claims and counterclaims to be dismissed with each party to bear its own costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees”.

District Judge James Selna then granted the motion on Monday, June 11.

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