LG sues Sony over PlayStation 3 Blu-ray drive

By Geoff Duncan February 8, 2011

Image used with permission by copyright holder

South Korea’s LG Electronics has filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission to bar all imports of Sony’s PlayStation 3 console into the United States. According to the complaint, LG alleges the Blu-ray drives in Sony’s top-flight gaming console infringe on three LG patents—two related to how the drive pulls data off the disc, and another related to production of “multiple data streams” to handle several camera angles. LG is calling for an “immediate” investigation into the Blu-ray players.

The suit was first reported by Bloomberg; a copy of the complaint is available (PDF) from the ITC 337 Law Blog.

Industry watchers are largely viewing the suit as a tit-for-tat in an escalating patent battle between Sony and LG; late last year, Sony filed suit against LG, alleging that LG mobile phones infringe on several Sony patents. LG’s move raises the stakes for Sony by threatening a core market for its PlayStation 3 business—which, after years of struggling, is finally starting to gain ground over its console rivals, the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360.

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Jim Ryan has been working with PlayStation since 1994 when he joined Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. Since then, he's become the key figurehead for the PlayStation brand, similar to Phil Spencer's role within Xbox. His most recent success has come from the launch of the PlayStation 5, which has already surpassed a 40 million unit milestone. Today, Sony announced that Ryan plans to retire from the role.

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