Gaikai sued by T5 Labs
Game streaming companies going to court over patent rights
Gaikai is being taken to court over the technology behind its game streaming services. Last week, T5 Labs filed suit against the recent Sony acquisition, alleging infringements on a patent for "Sharing a Graphical Processing Unit Between a Plurality of Programs."
T5 Labs claims it is the exclusive licensee of the patent, which was filed last November as a continuation of previous applications dating back to 2002. In the patent, T5 Labs acknowledges previous claims on streaming technology, but places a purportedly new emphasis on modular design for ease of debugging and upgradability. The patent also promises improvements to compression quality and network latency with its specific method of streaming games.
T5 Labs is seeking an unspecified amount in damages. Gaikai has not yet filed its response to the case.
The London-based T5 Labs has been in the streaming business since 2007. At the time, it was positioned as a way to bring PC games to the living room with the assistance of cable providers. The company crossed patent swords with OnLive early last year, although a search of court records found no suit actually filed.