T5 Labs in Delaware holds a game streaming patent that they claim was "knowingly infringed upon" by Gaikai, the company Sony recently bought to stream video games. The patent in question is called the "Sharing a Graphical Processing Unity Between a Plurality of Programs," which allegedly describes a game streaming system quite similar to the one Gaikai uses.
The complaint's claims allege that Gaikai infringed "by making, using, offering for sale, selling and/or practicing the inventions" covered by the patent "at least by providing a system and methods of sharing a graphics processing unit (GPU) between a plurality of programs."
The complaint further requests damages "adequate to compensate T5 for Gaikai's infringement of" the patent up until final judgment by either a judge or jury has been rendered. T5 also asks for attorneys' fees (which is part of all petitioning procedure) and "a judgment permanently enjoining Gaikai from further infringement" of the patent. In other words, Gaikai needs to come up with something else for their game streaming system.
These patent infringement lawsuits happen so often, we typically dismiss them all as frivolous and move on. Until actual discovery in this case begins, we won't know if Gaikai actually infringed on the patent or not, and even then, it's difficult to prove intentional infringement without concrete evidence. Most likely, though, this case will settle out of court and we'll never know what really went on.
