TOKYO, Aug. 19, 2010 (Kyodo News International) -- Japan's Intellectual Property High Court on Thursday ordered Sony (NYSE:SNE) Corp. to pay a former employee about 5.1 million yen as reward for his invention of a technology used in PlayStation game consoles, reversing a lower court ruling that had rejected his demand.
Hidehiro Kume, 58, had been seeking 100 million yen for his invention of a small optical pickup used to play and record data on optical discs for the popular game consoles sold in 2003 and before.
''I thank the court for identifying some of my contributions to the company,'' Kume told a news conference after the court ruling. ''But the company should have appreciated my contributions when I was an employee.''
A Sony public relations official regretted the latest court decision and said the company will scrutinize the ruling before deciding what to do.
High court orders Sony to pay ex-employee 5.1 mil. yen for invention
They didn't reveal any information behind this case but it must be serious if someone can win a lawsuit against Sony.
btw 5.1 million yen is around $60k