Blu-ray Patent Called Into Question. Cease and Desist Order May be Issued

It never seems to end does it? It seems like Blu-ray only just won the format war against HD DVD, and already it is about to get tangled in another fight. This time, it’s copyright infringement.

Apparently the U.S. International Trade Commission, or ITC, has voted to investigate claims by a Professor Gertrude Neumark Rothschild that SONY violated her patents that involved methods of using light emitting diodes to read data off of discs. (The full details are: U.S. Patent No. 4,904,618, “Process for Doping Crystals of Wide Band Gap Semiconductors,” and U.S. Patent No. 5,252,499, “Wide Band-Gap Semiconductors Having Low Bipolar Resistivity and Method of Formation”)

Professor Gertrude Neumark Rothschild has requested that Sony, along with roughly 30 companies, be issued a cease and desist order, preventing them from manufacturing and importing anymore units into the US. If she is successful, not only does Sony lose a major format war it so long fought for, but a console war as well! After all, PS3s are Blu-ray players.

The ITC has stated that it has simply started an investigation into the matter, and hasn’t made any decision as how to handle the issue. The next step in the process will be to hold a hearing to determine whether there really is a violation in patent laws.

[Joystiq: US Trade Commission investigates Blu-ray patent]