Agere Systems, a maker of integrated circuit techonology, has sued Sony for patent infringement, the second patent suit Sony has been involved in this year. Agere claims that Sony knowingly used technology from eight of Agere's patents in a variety of products, including PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.

Agere is asking for damages based on revenue gained by Sony through use of the patents. Because Agere claims Sony knew of the patents, the company is seeking additional punitive damages. Sony does not deny using the patents. Instead, the company contends that it has the rights to use seven of the patents through a previous agreement with Agere's former parent company Lucent Technologies. Sony believes that the eighth patent in question was not properly filed by Agere.

Earlier this year, Sony lost its appeal of a patent infringement ruling with Immersion Corporation. Sony was found guilty of using Immersion's rumble technology in PlayStation's DualShock controller. Sony has removed rumble technology from PlayStation 3's controller, claiming it interferes with the controller's tilt sensitivity. Considering Nintendo has incorporated both full motion sensitivity and rumble into Wii's controller, many feel Sony removed rumble because of the lawsuit.

Source: GameSpot