Console makers sued over analog joysticks

by Kyle Orland { Jan 10th 2007 at 10:40AM }

Were you aware that every single major console maker operating right now is a dirty, criminal enterprise? It's true, if you believe a suit by Fenner Investments (PDF link) which claims that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all violating its patent for "a low-voltage joystick port interface," specifically one that converts an analog joystick input into machine-readable digital form.

Never mind that the patent was filed in 1998, years after both Sony and Nintendo had introduced analog joysticks into their PlayStation and Nintendo 64 controllers (and filed patents for the same). Never mind that Microsoft had patented an interface for Windows-based analog controllers in 1997. Never mind that the idea of an analog joystick on a video game console goes at least as far back as the German VC4000 from 1978.

None of this matters. Clearly all the major console manufacturers are willfully infringing on the long-held patents of this relatively unknown company. We predict a court decision for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to be awarded to Fenner any day now. We're holding our breath even as we write this.

[Thanks pandlcg]

Tags: analog, controller, design, infringement, joystick, microsoft, nintendo, patent, sony

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Fuzz @ Jan 10th 2007 11:12AM

Next up, The Sony SIXAXIS without analog sticks! "We err. couldn't make the tilting functionality work with analog sticks, besides . .joystiqs are so last gen".

moofree @ Jan 10th 2007 10:48AM

Unlikely Sony-Bashing Prediction: The PS4 controllers will have neither analog sticks nor rumble.

Insomnia Bob @ Jan 10th 2007 10:53AM

Gotta love the american legal system. You can create a company that exists only to patent obvious technological leaps, then sue the bejesus out of other companies that are ACTUALLY building and creating things.

Steven @ Jan 10th 2007 12:22PM

"analog sticks are so last gen"- big Ken talking about the PS4.

Jonathan Tran @ Jan 10th 2007 12:39PM

Don't forget Sega Saturn had analog, too!!

Jordan @ Jan 10th 2007 12:38PM

Funny thing is the company thats suing will probably end up with a buttload of legal fees and lose a sizeable sum of money.

David004 @ Jan 10th 2007 12:08PM

Patents are very lame in todays age. You don't need to be the first to do it, you never even need to really make it, just explain how it is slightly different than the other thing then sue.

This isn't the first time this has happened and most of the time the company sueing hasn't even made the product.

Saneless @ Jan 10th 2007 11:37AM

Here's my dream:

Make a patent for something kinda simple and obvious.

Don't do anything.

Wait until lots of companies use something that would infringe.

Wait.

Wait longer (more sales, more sales generations).

Sue.

There should be some kind of statute of limitations, even if it's legit. You can't just sit back and let companies sell and sell and THEN sue. If MS knew they were infringing in a reasonable amount of time, they would have engineered around it I'm sure.

mocax @ Jan 10th 2007 11:33AM

Why don't they sue the patent office for willful granting of duplicate patents?

Dave @ Jan 10th 2007 11:48AM

Next-gen game console controller: keyboard/mouse.

Zediker @ Jan 10th 2007 11:57AM

"a low-voltage joystick port interface,"

hrm, joystick port interface, eh? You mean like the ones that the current companies are NOT using. Like the ancient joystick ports on the back of sound cards?

They have no case, and never have. Consoles do not have Joystick Port Interfaces.

RHP @ Jan 10th 2007 1:00PM

This is a nusance suit, designed to receive greenmail. However because it is so absurd, I'd be surprised if it wasn't fought. It's not like we're talking about a relatively new function or something created in the last several years. This technology has been around 3 decades. Why didn't this company sue sooner?

I would not be surprised if Atari, IBM, or even Magnavox held an obscure patent on this one.

Blizz419 @ Jan 10th 2007 12:58PM

this company is dumb as shit Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony are going to crush these guys till there is nothing left. Haha Fenner Investments in a years time or so your company will no longer exist fools, I was gonna email these guys to laugh at them for there stupidity but I couldn't find an email addy but i did find this
(504) 581-6288

diskoboy @ Jan 10th 2007 1:02PM

I'm suing every video game company there is because they stole my idea for a plastic outer shell, covering the entire console that keeps the internal hardware protected.

I'm suing for 80 gajillion dollars :)

And since I'll get the obvious idiot, who'll make a smart ass comment...... I'm joking people.

Yuccadude @ Jan 10th 2007 2:50PM

Well, it seems that most of you missed the second paragraph, the one with all the pertinent information. I suggest you go re-read it and see if that changes what you all think.

SuicideNinja @ Jan 10th 2007 4:40PM

Although #1 beat me to it, this just means Sony will pull analog sticks from their next controller. It will be a ball without buttons and solely relies on motion control. Then they'll get sued for that and we'll have to control games with our minds.

ByeLaw @ Jan 10th 2007 1:54PM

Don't forget we had analog joysticks on the Atari-2600. FFS!! Anyway, I've just patented:

Wheel:
"A circular device to aid the movement of heavy objects"

Here I come world... get your wallet ready

FSK405K @ Jan 10th 2007 3:12PM

Why don't they patent "a devise used to send electricity over a current whose polarity changes between 40 and 60 times per second?" No one would have developed that before they patented it, either.

Denny Crane @ Jan 10th 2007 3:19PM

Denny Crane.

JS Beckerist @ Jan 10th 2007 4:28PM

Denny Crane = Matttt Daaaaamon

on a lighter note, all this is, is a big-kid version of "I thought of it first!"
"No! I did!"
"No, me, see? I drew it on paper years ago!"
"Oh yeah? Well, I emailed my mom a stick figure representation decades ago..." etc...

John @ Jan 10th 2007 3:46PM

so the ps3 controller will be what? a wiimote? lmao!

Johndude! @ Jan 10th 2007 4:05PM

well a wiimote without rumble! lol

chris @ Jan 10th 2007 8:18PM

This is the state of United States patent laws. Everyone and their mother has the ability to declare an item "intellectual property" and begin suing the pants off of everybody who has profited off a "facsimile" of their "patent".

Do patents have ex post facto clauses written into them or something?

buba @ Jan 10th 2007 5:20PM

suicide ninja, sony actually has the patent for that.

Macuseros9 @ Jan 10th 2007 6:10PM

I just patented the use of hands to press buttons on controllers.

Weres my money Bitches!

thejakeman @ Jan 10th 2007 7:03PM

CURSE YOU VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY!!! HOW MANY LIVES WILL YOU RUIN WITH YOUR RECKLESS PATENT INFRINGING!!!!

Triforceowner @ Jan 12th 2007 4:08PM

The game industry has to get together and do something about these law suits. They need to work together so no one attempts to screw ball them. Maybe get some international laws in place over what technologies can be patented. I'm no wiz at this stuff, but they need to do something.

raycosm @ Jan 10th 2007 8:38PM

Don't forget to get Sega!

EdwardA @ Jan 10th 2007 8:37PM

To be fair, the patent isn't for analog joysticks, but a method for interfacing high-voltage analog instruments(joystick) with low-voltage computing equipment(console/pc/etc) via a low-voltage port. This is likely for safety/signaling reasons, not the analog reasons. Not that the patent has any merit or that it won't loose on prior art, but just wanted to clarify.

Azerael @ Jan 11th 2007 2:24AM

I can't wait 'till we start cloning humans and God or Evolution sues us for infringing on their patent for "primates with opposable thumbs". Then FutureSony would remove the thumbs from every clone and everyone would laugh at them while they stomped around saying "opposable thumbs are so last-gen! We are the superior species! We are Four-Dimensional!"

Of course then Sony would be sued by String Theory for infringing on the patent for the Fourth Dimension...

Graeme_N @ Jan 11th 2007 3:11AM

#15: Actually, the Atari 2600 joystick was digital, it only registered 8 directions. So did C64 and Speccy joysticks. The first analog joysticks I can remember were on the PC, although I'm sure some console probably had them before that.

#22: Brilliant! Although you probably won't control the PS5 with your mind, the PS5 WILL CONTROL YOU WITH ITS MIND - just ask Ken.

patent-monkey @ Jan 12th 2007 6:52AM

Here's the claim for a more detailed play by play...

9. A processor based system, comprising:
a processor;
a joystick device having a first source voltage; and
an interface interfacing said joystick device with said processor, said interface including,
a Resistor-Capacitor (RC) network, connected to the joystick device, said RC network having a capacitor that generates an analog joystick position measurement signal; and
an interface circuit having a second source voltage that is lower than the first source voltage, including
a buffer circuit, in a first operation mode of said interface, receiving said analog joystick position measurement signal, outputting a first logic state as a digital signal before said analog joystick measurement signal exceeds said predetermined threshold, and outputting a second logic state as said digital signal after said analog joystick measurement signal exceeds said predetermined threshold, and
a pulse generator generating a pulse based on said digital signal in said first operation mode of said interface, a width of said pulse representing a coordinate position of said joystick device, and outputting said pulse to said processor, wherein the capacitance value of said capacitor is a function of said predetermined threshold that prevents deviation of the width of said pulse from expected values.