Patent expert Florian Mueller has criticised Sony for their ‘childish and unprofessional’ behaviour after labelling rival hardware manufactures as ‘inferior’ during various patent applications over the years.
Mueller has her 20 years of experience as a patent activist and analyst, although for relevance it should be noted that he cites Microsoft as a client on his blog and also worked as a consultant for Blizzard between 1995 — 1998.
In response to an article on GameRant regarding a Sony patent application for a universal controller, in which the hardware giant calls non-PlayStation products “inferior,” Mueller notes that this isn’t the only time Sony has done this.
According to the patent description, the controller could be used “a personal computer, a home entertainment system (e.g. Sony PlayStation 2 or Sony PlayStation 3 or Sony PlayStation 4), a portable gaming device (e.g. Sony PSP or Sony Vita), or a home entertainment system of a different albeit inferior manufacturer.”
Hat tip to GameRant, but this is not new. It’s long-standing Sony practice. They’ve been doing this since at least 2011. It’s amazing that no one has discovered this ‘tradition’ before, and that no patent office told them a long time ago to stop doing that once and for all. Patent applications are not meant to be propaganda instruments for console warriors.
In that context, there is nothing wrong with discussing specific technical drawbacks (such as inferior performance, higher power consumption, greater memory footprint) of particular prior art (earlier inventions). But calling competitors generally ‘inferior’ is gratuitous, stupid, childish, and unprofessional.
Even if those manufacturers were inferior, it would not mean that whatever invention a given Sony patent purports to describe – here, a ‘universal controller’ – is by definition innovative and deserving of patent protection.
Mueller cited more than a dozen other instances of Sony calling out rivals during patent applications, commenting they’re “just a sample of other Sony patent applications that contain the words ‘different albeit inferior manufacturer’ with (dis)respect to competing video game consoles.”
[Source – Florian Mueller Blog]