Immersion licenses its haptics technology to Sony for the DualSense controller on the PlayStation 5, and received its first royalty report and revenue from Sony in Q4, said interim CEO Jared Smith on a quarterly call Thursday. The royalty proceeds were “in line with our expectations and we continue to expect the platform and controller to be very successful,” he said. “The positive market reception of the DualSense controller has catalyzed increased market interest in haptics, which we're seeing across the industry, as well as in our customer and partner engagements.” Sony debuted the PS5 Nov. 12 in the U.S. and Nov. 19 elsewhere, selling 4.5 million consoles in the quarter ended Dec. 31 (see 2102030025). Sony said it’s on pace to sell 7.6 million PS5 in its fiscal year ending March 31 but is having trouble keeping up with demand. Smith is “very happy about the Sony license, and the scope and the economics and the potential” of the royalty agreement, he said. “Sony has a strong track record with their consoles, and they shipped over a long period of time in high volume.” Immersion is trying to seed wider market adoption of haptics in smartphones, and a newly published ATSC 3.0 recommended practice will enable adding haptics to NextGenTV broadcasts and broadband content streams for reception on mobile devices “capable of haptic feedback,” said Smith. Immersion Q4 revenue fell 5% year over year.
LG’s recent decision to license its webOS TV platform (see 2102240004) means more TV brands adopting Universal Electronics Inc.’s QuickSet technology, said UEI Monday: “As LG is expanding its footprint through TV manufacturing partners, it is including UEI’s QuickSet as the standard for device discovery and control.”
A Bowie, Maryland, man pleaded guilty Friday to copyright infringement for online sales of nearly $316,000 worth of counterfeit DVDs and Blu-rays of popular movies, TV shows and fitness videos, said DOJ. Authorities charged Olayinka Wahab, 45, with selling more than 18,000 Chinese-sourced discs or boxed sets online for nine years beginning in 2009. He was caught in an undercover sting when MPA representatives tipped off federal agents after buying sample counterfeit discs from Wahab and finding their packaging and labeling “were substantially indistinguishable” from the legitimate product, said DOJ. His plea deal requires him to pay restitution, plus forfeit more than $20,000 seized from several bank accounts. He faces up to five years in federal prison. Sentencing is scheduled for May 18 before U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland. Efforts to reach Wahab’s attorneys for comment were unsuccessful. MPA is "grateful that justice has been served in a case that once again highlights the need to protect the creative community from those who seek to profit illegally from their hard work," said a spokesperson Monday. Copyright infringement costs up to $71 billion annually in lost domestic revenue, he said, citing a U.S. Chamber of Commerce study.
A new smart label and mobile authentication app lets brand managers and consumers identify, authenticate and track genuine products and identify illicit sellers, said Covectra Monday. Non-reproducible film combines a serialized QR barcode with a 3D image of holographic "stars" embedded in a random, non-repeatable pattern, distributed at varying depths and positions inside the label, said the company.
In exchange for "significant payments" from Google, News Corp. will provide journalism content from a variety of its publications and news platforms to the Google News Showcase, it said Wednesday. Those include The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, New York Post and MarketWatch in the U.S., The Times and The Sun in the U.K., and The Australian, Sky News and news.com.au in Australia, it said. The three-year agreement also involves development of a subscription platform, sharing of ad revenue from Google's ad technology services and "meaningful investments" in video journalism by YouTube, it said.
TiVo extended its multiyear licensing agreement with Sharp for its G-Guide HTML, G-Guide xD and remote schedule recording service across compatible TVs and Ultra HD Blu-ray recorders in the Japanese market, said the licensor Tuesday. The renewal allows Sharp to continue delivering the TiVo interactive program guides to viewers in Japan. The renewal with Sharp includes an expanded multiyear license to TiVo’s patent portfolios, enabling the TV maker to build customizable content discovery services across its devices, including Sharp products worldwide. The Xperi subsidiary also extended and expanded multiyear agreements with Vodafone, giving the telecom company access to its content discovery, conversational voice and data analytics products for the Europe and Africa markets, it said.
The mechanical licensing collective and digital licensee coordinator will restrict the disclosure and use of confidential information, as required by the Music Modernization Act (see 2102080062), the Copyright Office announced Thursday. An interim rule takes effect March 15, it said.
Skyworth “misused” an LG rollable OLED TV image in its livestreamed CES presentation last month (see 2101200029), said LG Wednesday. Skyworth acknowledged the “improper use” of the image in a statement of correction on its website and “wishes to reiterate that we respect all intellectual property rights.” It took "proactive steps" to resolve the matter with LG “as a matter of urgency and ensure that any similar instances will not occur in the future.”
Garmin Friday claimed “total victory” in Philips' lawsuit. An International Trade Commission administrative law judge's initial determination Thursday found Philips’ asserted patents were invalid and didn't cover Garmin’s popular wearable devices, Garmin said. “Garmin has repeatedly taken a stand against meritless patent lawsuits, and it is our consistent policy to fight baseless patent claims,” said Andrew Etkind, general counsel. The initial determination is subject to ITC review. Philips emailed Friday to say it's aware of ITC's initial determination. "We are studying this decision, as we determine our next steps," said a spokesperson. "Moreover, as separate to the ITC investigation, litigations related to other patents are still pending between Philips and Fitbit and Garmin," he said, saying the company will "refrain from providing further comments."
TiVo extended for multiple years its patent agreements with Sony for technology that simplifies media search and discovery, it said Tuesday.