Patent expert calls Sony ‘childish’, ‘unprofessional’ for calling rivals ‘inferior’ in patent applications
A patent expert has called Sony “childish” and “unprofessional” for referring to rival console manufacturers as “inferior” in its patent applications.
Florian Mueller, who has been working as a patent activist and analyst for more than 20 years, has criticised the PlayStation manufacturer in the latest post on his blog Foss Patents.
Referring to a GameRant article which notes that Sony had recently published a patent application for a universal controller that refers to non-PlayStation products as “inferior”, Mueller states that not only is this “stupid” of Sony, it’s also far from the first time it has done this.
Sony’s patent says the controller could be used on “a personal computer, a home entertainment system (e.g. Sony PlayStation 2 or Sony PlayStation 3 or Sony PlayStation 4), a portable gaming device (e.g. Sony PSP or Sony Vita), or a home entertainment system of a different albeit inferior manufacturer”.
This article has been updated to note that Mueller cites Microsoft as a client on his blog, that he was a consultant for Blizzard between 1995 and 1998, and that Microsoft is currently trying to acquire Activision Blizzard.
While VGC belives the story is still relevant because it involves someone with 20 years of experience in their field criticising what they believe to be bad practice, we also believe that context and potential vested interest should be acknowledged.
“Hat tip to GameRant, but this is not new,” Mueller says in his blog. “It’s long-standing Sony practice. They’ve been doing this since at least 2011.”
“It’s amazing that no one has discovered this ‘tradition’ before, and that no patent office told them a long time ago to stop doing that once and for all,” he adds. “Patent applications are not meant to be
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