Sony asked to pay up for "stolen" patents

Again, Sony? Can't you keep your paws off of other people's innovations? Oh, wait... this one seems unfair. Agere Systems (the microelectronic group resulting from the merging of AT&T and Lucent) claims Sony has infringed on eight patents in a number of their products. These include, but aren't limited to, PSP, PS2, PS3, Vaio computers, Walkman players, Memory Stick Duos, Location Free TV, and Handycams. What patents could possibly be infringed by this assortment of goodies? "The patents in question run from a "wireless local area network apparatus" to "barrier layer treatments for tungsten plug.""

So, hold on, Agere is claiming Sony stole the patent for a wireless LAN? Seems a bit broad. Agere is asking to see Sony's books as well, simply to see how much money they can force Sony to give them. Sony naturally denies these claims and counters they have the right to use seven of the eight patents through a cross-licensing deal in 1989 with AT&T and Lucent. The other? Incomplete or incorrectly filled out paperwork. These supposed "infringements" seem very broad and almost like Agere is hopping on the "slit Sony's wrists" bus that Immersion Technology, among others, have boarded previously. Hopefully this case falls in Sony's favor and it in no way alters the release of the PS3.