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Sony's patents have been quietly disparaging Microsoft and Nintendo as "inferior" manufacturers for over a decade now.
First picked up on by Foss Patents, there's been some harsh language of late from Sony towards Microsoft in patent filings. Just earlier this month, a Sony patent acknowledged users could be playing a "home entertainment system of a different albeit inferior manufacturer," stopping just short of explicitly naming Microsoft and Nintendo as these "inferior" manufacturers.
You'd be forgiven for thinking this is Sony just lashing out at its competition thanks to Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard (which Sony has been having meltdowns over for months now). However, this language actually extends much further than just the last few years, even as far back as 2013.
Foss Patents notes that Sony has used the phrase "different albeit inferior manufacturer" for home consoles in 12 total patents over the last decade. That's 11 times Sony has called its competition "inferior" in US patent filings, and once in European filings, for anyone keeping track.
This is hardly the first time Sony, or any other console manufacturer for that matter, has used disparaging language to describe its competition. What's just downright weird here is that Sony repeatedly brings this up in innocuous patent filings, a battleground where you'd think disparaging your competition wouldn't really help you succeed in patenting technology.
Sony can stamp its feet all it wants, but Microsoft scored a major win for its Activision acquisition last month in the UK after the CMA walked back concerns over decreased competition resulting from the acquisition. That said, there's still a ways to go before the government regulator delivers its final verdict in August.
Last month also saw Microsoft sign its fourth 10-year deal in as many weeks in an attempt to push the acquisition through, this time partnering with a cloud technology provider.
