Immersion rumbled by Microsoft in breach of contract case

Carmen ListonJun 20th, 2007 - 14:37:44

You are using the term settlement in relation to the Sony/Immersion agreement without realising that in this current lawsuit it will be the courts that decide whether what occured was a 'settlement' or not. It has a fairly precise meaning in relation to the outcomes of lawsuits.

From my understanding of Immersion's side of the argument, they did not settle with Sony. A settlement would have occured if Immersion withdrew its lawsuit with Sony and came to some financial arrangement for the use of its technology. However, Immersion did not settle with Sony. They pursued the lawsuit to its conclusion and won, and the moneys they received were awarded by the court. Their subsequent $28M (?) agreement with Sony for use of their technology was contingent on Sony dropping their appeal, and Microsoft may be using that as their argument that a settlement occured, but it is not clear that that argument is valid (what if Sony never appealed and just paid up when they lost the case).

Microsoft may be using this lawsuit as a fishing expedition, to see if they can find out what was actually in the Immersion/Sony agreement.

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CrazKJun 20th, 2007 - 15:31:33

Fishing? Of course they're fishing. Microsof is the Captain Highliner of the software industry. However, I always find that Microsoft mostly fights when it has a basis for arguement, enough so that it benefits them.

I agree that 'settlement' is tossed around in the article, but if settlement=ruling then the whole context of the article changes. In the end, $15 million means nothing to Microsoft, but Microsoft is in a power position with Sony right now, where they have the ability to truly dominate this round of next generation consoles (if we don't include Wii as a next gen console). Information is power and Microsoft knows this. If there is any way that they can be a bee in the veritable bonnet of Sony then they should do so.

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PlainEnglishJun 20th, 2007 - 16:09:32

Please avoid legalese such as 'said' and 'aforementioned' because these words add nothing and take away clarity. Instead of 'said' use 'the.' Instead of 'aforementioned' just don't use it; you are already stating what is 'aforementioned.' Simplify your writing. Using legalese impresses no one and makes the author sound pedantic.

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