Summary: Patent lawsuits against XBox 360; another Red Ring of Death PR disaster; exit of Xbox 360 Elite is already rumoured

THINGS JUST AREN'T working particularly well for Microsoft these days, no matter which division.

Microsoft's XBox 360 got itself under a shower of lawsuits in recent months (e.g. [1, 2]). Deliberate neglect did not help the cause, but the latest XBox lawsuit are actually to do with games and with patents. Microsoft is being sued by PalTalk Holdings, which seems like patent troll.

Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, should pay a New York company $90 million for using its inventions in the Xbox video-game system, a lawyer told a federal jury yesterday.

PalTalk Holdings Inc. says Halo games and the Xbox console on which they are played infringe two patents for inventions developed by MPath Interactive Inc. PalTalk bought the patents for less than $200,000, Microsoft lawyer David Pritikin said.

Separately, there is also a settlement of this case.

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it settled a patent-infringement suit in which a New York company was demanding $90 million in royalties on the Xbox video game system.

Financial terms weren't disclosed, Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster said, adding that it was an "amicable agreement." The settlement cuts short a trial that started this week over the suit, filed by closely held PalTalk Holdings Inc.

Further details in:

• Microsoft Settles Lawsuit Over Halo 3
• Microsoft Settles $90m Lawsuit
• Microsoft Settles $90 Million Patent Case

There is also the following new report: Patent Lawsuit Against Nintendo, Microsoft To Begin In Tyler

The trial for a patent infringement lawsuit filed against Nintendo and Microsoft will begin in Tyler on Tuesday.

This one comes from Fenner Investments, which seems like another Texas-based patent troll.

XBox has already lost Microsoft several billions and the lawsuits above will help not at all. Right now, Microsoft and XBox face yet another public relations disaster.

Woman struggles to prove to Microsoft's Xbox service agents that Nome, Alaska, exists

[...]

Kim Galleher's nightmare may be coming to an end. The Nome, Alaska, mother has been trying since mid-February to get Microsoft to send her a shipping box so she could return her 13-year-old son's Xbox 360, which died of the Red Ring of Death in the depths of winter when going outside to play wasn't really an option.

Microsoft almost denies the existence of a town that accommodates thousands of people. What should they expect to happen as a result? Backlash.

Dear Microsoft: 'We exist.' Sincerely, Nome.

The Seattle Times describes the nightmare of a Nome mother trying to get Microsoft to acknowledge that she can, in fact, receive shipping.

At issue: Trying to get the company to replace her son's broken Xbox 360 after it died from the infamous "red ring of death." (I just had to do the same thing this winter.)

In other news, now that we are seeing many Microsoft products getting axed (latest example just days ago), a rumour emerges which suggests Xbox 360 Elite will be killed by Microsoft too.

Another gaming rumor: Citing the usual unnamed sources, tech website Fudzilla is claiming Microsoft (MSFT) may soon stop offering its $400 Xbox 360 Elite, the super-premium version of its Xbox game console. Sales of the $300 Xbox 360 Pro and $200 no-online play Xbox 360 Arcade would continue.

This is also covered here ("Microsoft Refuses Comment on Rumors of Ceasing Production of Xbox 360 Elite"). Fudzilla is usually right, about Microsoft layoffs for example [1, 2].

Microsoft seems to be going nowhere -- and pretty fast at that. ⬆