SCEA, Ubi, Disney, EA Face Voice Tech Patent Suit

A Texas-based technology company has filed a lawsuit against Ubisoft, Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Electronic Arts and Disney alleging that the four companies' games violate a voice-recognition tech patent. Bareis Technologies is the holder of a 13 year-old patent that covers automatic speech recognition tech built into CD players "for command and control purposes", and believes games are covered under this. The company is seeking damages for infringement from the listed companies, since it owns the patent in question -- at the very least, it says, a "reasonable royalty." According to GamePolitics, which first unearthed the suit, several of Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's games -- like EndWar, in which voice control played a significant role, are listed in the suit. Games within Sony Computer Entertainment America's SoCom franchise and Electronic Arts' NASCAR 06 and 07 are also listed as infringing the apparent patent. Finally, Disney's Phonics Quest is also listed in the lawsuit as infringing on the patent, which describes a means to control a disc player by voice command, and doesn't mention interactive entertainment specifically.