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Microsoft Wins Legal Battle Over Xbox Live
While not everyone in the world of gaming has had such great luck with their legal struggles this week, Microsoft has won a patent infringement case that is over five years old.
Way back in 2004, Microsoft was hit with a lawsuit from Peter A. Hochstein, Jeffrey Tenenbaum, and Harold Milton, Jr. The suit claimed that Microsoft's Xbox Live service was infringing on a patent for "apparatus and method for electrically connecting remotely located video games." The group was seeking royalties as well as an injunction preventing Microsoft from continuing to use Xbox Live.
This week, a U.S. district court judge ruled that Microsoft was not in the wrong, specifically noting the term "electrically connecting." Though Xbox live does connect games remotely, it's technically not an electric connection, according to the court's decision.
Sony was the subject of a similar lawsuit by the same plaintiff for their PlayStation Network service, but they settled out of court in April of last year.
[via Gamasutra]
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