March 18, 2011
Sony suffered a set back in its ongoing patent dispute with LG when LG was awarded an injunction to temporarily prevent the import of further Sony Playstation 3 consoles into Europe, last week. The dispute is over the Blu-ray optical disk technologies used in the Playstation 3 (PS3). LG claims that Sony is in breach of its patents over such technology, by using it in the Playstation. The injunction could affect stocks of PS3’s in high street shops with traders finding themselves unable to fulfil customer orders on time. The case is not the only one currently at issue between the parties. Sony has accused LG of breaching its patents in relation to LG’s mobile smartphones. Businesses should take care not to infringe other business’ patents when inventing products to sell and market. If this is a possibility, it may be possible to negotiate a licence or transfer of the patent in question from the patent owner. Doing proper research from the outset can help to avoid long running and costly disputes. An intellectual property or company solicitor can provide further advice in relation to patents and other forms of intellectual property.