Sony Corp. on Monday said it was ordered by a U.S. federal court to halt U.S. sales of its PlayStation game consoles and pay nearly $91 million in patent infringement damages to a California company, although the judge immediately put her ruling on hold.
The stay in the case means Sony will not actually have to stop importing or selling the PlayStation 2 console in the United States, and will not have to remove PS2s from store shelves, while the appeal is pending.
Financial analysts said there was little practical impact to the order.
“There’s no way that Sony’s going to stop selling PS2s any time soon, so I don’t see the injunction ever taking effect,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan.
“Clearly if Sony loses the appeal they will pay the judgment and enter into a royalty agreement,” he added.
At issue is patents held by Immersion Corp. (IMMR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on vibration technology. The PS2’s Dualshock controllers vibrate when players take actions in some games, like firing guns.
