![[firm] blog logo](/wp-content/themes/haynesboone2012/images/firm_header.jpg "Blogs of Haynes and Boone, LLP")
>Microsoft, Datel Battle over the Accessory Market
>The design patent infringement battle between Microsoft Corp. and Datel Design and Development Ltd. over Xbox 360 accessories in the U.S. might be coming to an end, at least for now. The two companies appear to have reached a settlement agreement this week resolving various infringement proceedings relating to Datel’s Xbox 360 compatible game controllers. But another part of the conflict between the Xbox creator and the accessory manufacturer is just heating up in federal district court in California. The California action involves antitrust claims brought by Datel against Microsoft and highlights some of the strategies Microsoft is using to gain an advantage over competitors in the Xbox accessory market, as well as some of the obstacles it faces in doing so. Datel filed the complaint in response to a Microsoft software update for the Xbox 360 that rendered Datel’s memory cards incompatible and useless with respect to the system,… Continue Reading
>Lunch with Steve Ballmer, Xbox Rumors?
>I attended a lunch today and the keynote speaker was Steve Ballmer. Despite the monikers that Mr. Ballmer has earned about his speaking capabilities, he was entertaining and informative to listen to. Of particular interest to our readers — he touched on the future of the Xbox a tiny (very little) bit…A question was asked of him of “do you have any tips or secrets that I could use to impress my far-more technology literate 17 year old son”. He talked about some aspects of Microsoft Office, but recognized that a 17 year old probably isn’t all that interested in the deep dark secrets of Word and Excel. He then said “tell your son to pay attention, because we’ve got some big announcements for the Xbox in the next thirty days.” Not the most specific of rumors, to say the least, but it nevertheless piqued my interest. He also offered… Continue Reading
>ADC v. Microsoft Update
>ADC Technology, based in Nagoya, Japan, launched a patent infringement suit in October, 2008, against Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, accusing them of infringing five ADC patents relating to interactive communication in video games. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on Monday granted ADC’s voluntary motion to dismiss Sony, leaving only Microsoft and Nintendo as the remaining defendants. ADC alleges that the Xbox 360 video game console (with Xbox Live) violates five, and the Wii, three, of the patents at issue.ADC is asserting Patent Numbers 6,193,520, 6,488,508, 6,702,585 and 6,875,021, all titled “Interactive communication system for communicating video game and karaoke software”; and Patent Number 5,775,995 titled, “Interactive communication system for communicating video.” The patents describe a remote distribution system that allows customers to download software for use on devices and charges those players a fee for using the downloaded software. The case is still in its… Continue Reading
Tag RSS