Suit Filed Against Sony For Parallel Processing Patent

A new lawsuit has been filed against Sony and its PlayStation 3, this time by the Parallel Processing Corporation, claiming Sony's Cell processor chip design infringes on the company's patent filed in the late 80's. The suit, first reported by consumer website GameSpot, claims Sony's parallel processing Cell chip design infringes upon its patent number 5,056,000, 'Synchronized parallel processing with shared memory', first filed in November of 1989. The patent does indeed describe the basic characteristics of parallel processing utilized by the Cell, with "a high speed computer that permits the partitioning of a single computer program into smaller concurrent processes running in different parallel processors." Should the patent claims be upheld, Parallel Processing Corporation seeks damages and attorney's fees with interest, and also boldly calls for "the impounding and destruction" of any Sony product that infringes on its patent.