LG Wants $150-180 Million Off Sony For PS3 Patent Infringements, Up to $350 Million In Further Royalties

Ouch. Back in February, LG managed to temporarily seize all PS3s going into The Netherlands – 300,000 in total – and block imports for 10 days. Sony is currently contesting the decision in court, but it does not look like its going well, with LG asking for a whopping $180 million right now, and future payments for every PS3 sold.

Reported on Florian Mueller’s FOSS Patents blog, he states that an “independent source who is in telephone contact with people attending the court hearing” not only backs up the news that 300,000 PS3’s were seized, but that 9 more shipments of PS3s are on the way The Netherlands, totalling 180,000, which – under the current ruling – will be seized.

LG wants to receive a patent royalty between $2.50 and $2.55 for each Blu-ray device sold by Sony, including the 47 million PS3s sold worldwide, as well as the many other Sony products that use the Blu-ray Disc standard. LG estimates that Sony already owes them patent royalties amounting to $150-180 million, plus more money for future sales – which LG wants a bank guarantee over a total of $350 million to cover.

With Sony facing “an uphill battle“, the company will be working hard to defend themselves in the ongoing court case.

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