Sony has been told to pay $90.7m (£48m) in damages and stop selling PlayStation consoles in the United States after losing a patent infringement lawsuit.

Sony said it would appeal the decision, stemming from a 2002 case brought by US firm Immersion, and would continue to sell its products pending the hearing.

A California court found that Sony had infringed sensory technology developed by the small tech business.

This allows a controller to vibrate in time with the game's actions.

Appeal

A federal district court in Oakland upheld a decision by a US court last year which ordered Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony's gaming unit, to pay $82m in damages.

However, the order to suspend sales of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles - the best selling games platforms in the world- and more than 40 individual games does not hold while an appeal is being heard.

Immersion Corporation claimed that Sony's Dual Shock controller for its two PlayStation consoles violated its patent rights, a claim which Sony has denied.

The $90m award is more than three times Immersion's total revenues last year, which amounted to $23.8m.

The California based company develops and licenses digital technology.

Computer games are vital to Sony as profits from its consumer electronics business continue to slide.

The Japanese company's shares closed down 0.91% at 4,360 yen on Monday.