ForceFeedBack: The $100 Million Patent

One of the most obstinate and important patents that has prevented many small companies from developing automotive simulation hardware expired about three years ago. It’s a little-known fact that hasn’t gotten much attention, but many of us have been affected by it without even realizing it.

Immersion Corp filed two patents in 2000 and 2001, extending a 1998 patent related to haptic devices, which, given the patent system’s ambiguity, could be extrapolated to anything. The irony is that there were already some devices on the market that used vibration from a PC, and Sony (which had licensed a similar technology from Logitech in 1998) had already released its Dual Shock.

Immersion sued Microsoft and Sony, but before they could proceed, Microsoft purchased 10% of Immersion, and the matter was resolved. Sony, on the other hand, engaged in a five-year legal battle that resulted in a nearly $100 million dollar fine due to the different Dual Shock. Sony then decided to reach an agreement with Immersion to use their technologies going forward, which is what has allowed us to have FFB on our pads up to this point.

Immersion has benefited from all of the steering wheels and bases with the FFB acronym and this type of haptic technology. It is quite easy to find a note about what is licensed in the Logitech or Thrustmaster instruction booklets.

TouchSense Technology licensed from Immersion Corporation and protected by one or more of the following United States Patents listed at http://www.immersion.com/haptics-technology/patent-marking/index.html

All three patents are now listed as expired, so I understand that both the acronym and the “haptic” simulation of software to an engine can be done without paying this company.

If we look around their website, it appears that some small Canadian company (other than Sony) is still licensing their technology, and we have some curious things like this 5Nm gear base, which can be seen here.

We hope that such things will fade into obscurity and will not be an impediment to market innovation in the coming years.

See you on the track!