Sega sues Profesor Layton(actually Level 5)over patents

[ROJM]

Hope they win, they need all the moolah they can get....

This can end up in two ways,This ends up the same way that the EA/Fox lawsuit did,which resulted in a few games for Sega or it gets thrown out of court, worst case scenario sega loses.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/12/11/inazuma-eleven-sega-suing-level-5-over-touch-mechanic/



 Sega is suing Professor Layton developer Level-5 over touch screen controls in the DS version of Inazuma Eleven, its popular football RPG series. Sega is calling for the halting of all sales of the game in Japan. Get the details below.

Yomiuri Online reports that the dispute stems from touch screen patents filed by Sega that lets players move on-screen characters using the Nintendo DS touch screen with your finger or a stylus pen. The company claim that Level-5 has infringed on those patents.

Initial hearings were heard on December 7th so the case has essentially begun. Sega is asking for ¥900 million / $11 million in damages over the infringement, however the case recalls Microsoft’s recent brush with Motorola.

The case saw a Californian judge deem Motorola’s online patents as essential to the acceptable standard of what consumers expect from modern game consoles, and therefore ruled that no one company can claim outright ownership.

Touch is essential to the way Nintendo DS functions, so it could end up that Sega’s suit is rejected. However, similar to the Motorola ruling – in which the company may have a window to pursue royalties for use of its tech – Sega may be able to seek royalties if its damage claim is rejected.

[Aki-at]

SEGA is going to win. If they won a suit against Namco for Tekken 2's training mode, they'll win this one too I'm sure.

Hate the patent trolling though.

[ROJM]

Patent Trolling?

[Nameless 24]

One poorish gaming company sues another poorish gaming company.

Shouldn't they all just get along? Level 5 are only doing well in Ilzuma Eleven anyway (and THAT is what SEGA are suing them for!)

[JetSetRadioForever]

Patent Trolling?

Basically, owning a patent for the sole reason of bringing litigation and attempted profiting from said litigation.

Yeah, it's only 900 million yen/11 million USD but Sega is embarrassing itself.

[Aki-at]

One poorish gaming company sues another poorish gaming company.

Shouldn't they all just get along? Level 5 are only doing well in Ilzuma Eleven anyway (and THAT is what SEGA are suing them for!)

SEGA is not poor.

Yeah, it's only 900 million yen/11 million USD but Sega is embarrassing itself.

Japanese companies do this all the time, SEGA is currently being sued for their Magical V Engine.

[Barry the Nomad]

Didn't Namco patent the concept of having mini-games during loading screens? I forgot the details of the patent, but I thought the key bit was that it was a literal game within a game with no bearing on the actual game being loaded, and there were objectives and scores within the mini-game.

[STORM!]

  Sega could not be doing good on CS sales, but they stills a powerful company, even more in Japan, even more with Sammy on board.

 Sega is basically the one who has destroyed SNK and Data East. The company Aruze was the owner of SNK, and Sega Sammy has won every each lawsuit on courch against Aruze. The company has gone...

 Sega has 1,238 patents registered (not counting the filials companies patents). Level 5 has 0, zero patents.

 Famous Sega's patents:

- character morphing
- lock-on system... etc...

 Sega uses touch-screen on games long long time before DS has came to light. But on this case, L5 is using the same system Sega has created for a soccer game (probably that cancelled game called Touch Striker).

 Take a look at what Sega is talking about:

http://gigazine.net/news/20121211-sega-inazuma/

 Some people are saying that if Level 5 loses, they will probably not survive...

 I think that Sega is 100% correct here.

[Kori-Maru]

And that's the reason why I love SegaBits. Some good info from our two forum members.

[Barry the Nomad]

Agreed, Kori. Nobody here calling SEGA selfish or evil, just pure facts.

[SEGA_Portuguese]

I think there is something strange about this.

SEGA sued EA and Namco in the past. Few people know, but the original creator of Tekken was a member of AM2. Yu Suzuki said that on an interview. He was salty as hell, because the dude left SEGA to Namco.

In the case of EA, Patcher said that EA did serious damage to SEGA, in some drama about their sports division (this was after the Dreamcast).

I don't think SEGA sued Namco and EA because of the money, they sued because they were angry.

I am wondering if there is some problem between SEGA and Level 5, because...i know SEGA is right, but i read the same thing that STORM read, that Level 5 will have serious problem with this. If SEGA is doing this just for the money, i mean, is really worthy? Just call them and say, "look, stop this shit".

The dude from L5, Hino, has a lot of haters, i don't know the reason. I wonder if he is a bad person.

[Radrappy]

regardless of if Sega has a good case for this, it is garnering some pretty bad press for the company as a whole.  Level 5 has been a media darling for a few years now with games like Layton, Inazuma, and Ni no Kuni.  Ironically even Sega's own Rhythm heaven owes a lot to Level 5 stylistically and presentation wise.

[STORM!]

  Seriously, Sega is not the evil on this case. It was already confirmed that Sega was in talk with Level 5 since October,2011.... for nine months consecutive they were trying to solve the case without a lawsuit, but Level 5 has done nothing.

 Do you remember True Fantasy Live Online? Looks like that Level 5 had issues on that project that forced them to cancel it...

[ROJM]

Here's L5 remarks..

Level-5's argument is based around the fact that the first Inazuma Eleven game was released in August 2008, which, according to Level-5, is before Sega received its first patent in 2009. The second patent was granted in 2011. Level-5 noted that there were games that used touch pen controls before Sega filed for these patents.

"As a result of examining these discrepancies," Level-5 stated, "we've concluded that there is no patent violation."

Moreover, Level-5 pointed out that controlling characters via touch pen has spread throughout gaming and has become a fundamental mechanic.

"While Inazuma Eleven does not violate Sega's patent, we do recognize that Sega's lawsuit could restrict choices in gaming from here on out as well as hindering the growth of the game industry."

Level-5 said the lawsuit makes the company "uncomfortable", and it plans to fight it in court

Well from reading the usual "Sega lost its way "and "why are they picking on poor L5" and that from uninformed idiot gamers, all i'm going to say about this statement and the people supporting L5...absolute baulderdash. If it wasn't for Sega half of the things that today's gamers enjoy just simple wouldn't exist. Sandbox gaming, QTE, the whole switch camera viewpoint and many other things originated with Sega titles, yet time and time again, we see Sega never really making a profit with the titles that pioneer these things but some johnny come lately pratically use the same thing for their game and make tons of more more money. I hope Sega wins this case because the industry takes the piss out of Sega, stealing its countless ideas and then dismisses the company with half the gaming press and gamers as some type of novety and joke. Hindering the groweth of the industry/ If it wasn't for sega the industry wouldn't hardly exist as we know it. People are harping about the Wii U and even the originality of the first Wii when anyone with a brain can see that those systems were Dreamcast inspired. If Sega can't make money out of their games so be it but that doesnt mean all the R+D poured into the different engines and techniques they have created should be ransacked by oppoutunists.

[Autosaver]

Yes, those "idiot" gamers. How dare they stick up for Level-5 when the game was completed BEFORE the patent was given.

Game Completion: 2008
Patent: 2009

Level 5 has said they plan to fight back - it takes AGES to LOSE this bad.