IP provider Patriot sues Sony, others

San Jose, Calif. - Claiming that one of its key microprocessor-related patents has been violated, intellectual-property provider Patriot Scientific Corp. is suing Sony Corp. of America and a number of other consumer electronics companies.

Patriot's suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that at least 14 Sony products infringe Patriot's technology. The products cited include Vaio desktop and laptop computers, DVD systems and servers.

Patriot (San Diego) is requesting an injunction that would bar further sales in the United States of the products in question. The company also seeks damages "in excess of several hundred million dollars" from the group of consumer electronic manufacturers.

Patriot said the companies are violating its 5,809,336 patent, granted in 1998, which describes a microprocessor with a variable-speed system clock.

Recently, Patriot has made enforcement of its patent portfolio a cornerstone of its business strategy. The company earlier this year set out an "intellectual-property compliance program" that targeted hundreds of companies using microprocessors that exceed 120 MHz.