Sony has won a patent infringement lawsuit that has been going on since 2017. The Japanese company was sued by Genuine Enabling Technology (GET) for patent infringement and demanded $500 million in damages.
According to GET, Sony should have infringed the patent by how the controller is connected to the PlayStation console. GET's lawyers pointed out that the PlayStation controllers transmit a signal with a slowly varying frequency for buttons and a higher frequency for motion control. According to GET, such a solution is impossible without its technology.
Sony defended itself, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to show that there was patented technology, or similar technology, in the PlayStation controllers. The court has now ruled in favor of the Japanese corporation. This allowed Sony to avoid a huge fine.
By the way, the GET lawyers filed an identical lawsuit on Nintendo. It was ruled in Nintendo's favor in 2020, but was reversed two years later by the US Court of Appeals and the trial is still ongoing. GET is expected to appeal the current decision as well and try to get some money from Sony.