Immersion Corp has just sued Meta. It claims that the company has built its industry-leading headsets by infringing on the smaller company's patents. It has alleged that in a lawsuit filed recently. According to Immersion, The Meta Quest 2, which dominates the market, infringes six patents covering haptic technology.
For those unaware,
in video game systems and controllers, haptics play a key role. They allow a
user to experience vibrations that are very similar to real-life forces, such
as blocking a punch when playing a virtual boxing game. The complaint by
Immersion was filed on Thursday in a federal court in Waco, Texas.
This development
could be huge for Meta, whose CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has committed to spending $10
billion per year to create a virtual-reality-enabled metaverse. Meta Quest 2 is
doing well in terms of boosting revenues too. The sales of Meta Quest 2 reached
8.7 million units in 2021. It's almost twice as compared to the previous year.
The company also owns 80% of the market.
The Aim
With this
lawsuit, Immersion seeks a court order that would block Meta's use of the
infringing technology. It is also after, as of yet, unspecified damages.
Meta
representatives haven't responded on the matter. Several requests for comments
have been made.
The case is
Immersion Corp. v. Meta Platforms Inc., 22-cv-541, US District Court, Western
District of Texas (Waco), and the following patents are involved:
Ø
US Patent no 10,664,143 - This
patent is about haptically enhanced interactivity
Ø
US Patent no 10,269,222 - This
patent is about systems with wearable tech featuring haptic output
Ø
US Patent no 10,248,298 - This
patent is about haptically enhanced interactivity
Ø
US Patent no 9,727,217 - This
patent is about haptic interactive content
Ø
US Patent no 8,896,806 - This
patent is about context-dependent haptics
Not the First
Time
This isn't the
first time Immersion, a company specializing in haptics patents, is suing a big
name. In fact, it is known for taking on some of the world's largest companies
in licensing disputes. The company sued Microsoft and Sony in 2002 and sued
Apple in 2016.
Also, it isn't
the first time a smaller tech company has sued a major company. Apple, Google,
Microsoft, Sony, and Samsung have all been sued in the past for similar patent
infringements. Most of those matters have been settled out of court.
The Sad
Reality
As tech giants
are investing more and more money in exploring the Metaverse and Web 3.0, they
are overtaking smaller companies that have made considerable progress in this
regard. Usually, the Silicon giants gobble up the fringe companies unless some
company like Immersion dares to stand up to them. We need more such daring
companies like Immersion if we don't want the tech world to be dominated by
Facebook, Google, and other tech giants.
In other news, DC
is also suing Mark Zuckerberg for his alleged role in the data breach that
allowed political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to target Facebook users
during the 2016 presidential election. It seems the road is bumpy for
Zuckerberg and his company.
Sources:
https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/meta-copied-vr-technology-key-to-metaverse-gaming-immersion-claims-7941992/
https://tech.hindustantimes.com/gaming/news/meta-platforms-copied-vr-technology-key-to-metaverse-gaming-immersion-corp-claims-71653749549011.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-27/meta-copied-technology-key-to-metaverse-gaming-immersion-claims