Nintendo Wins Appeal Over Motion Controller

[Austin MacKenzie]

Nintendo Wins Appeal Over Motion Controller

Nintendo has managed to reverse a court ruling that could have removed many of its controllers from the market.

<a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/83876-Nintendo-Loses-Controller-Lawsuit>In May, 2008 Nintendo lost a case filed by a small, Texas-based company called Anascape, which claimed that Nintendo's Wii Classic, Wavebird and GameCube controllers violated the company's patent. Nintendo was ordered to pay $21 million and stop using the technology. Today, the US Federal Court of Appeals reversed the decision, overturning the initial ruling handed down by the Texas district court.

Anascape took both Nintendo and Microsoft to court in 2006, seeking damages and hoping to force the controllers that it claimed violated its patents to either be pulled from circulation or for royalties to be paid. The patents covered a range of controller technology including analog sensors, feedback and vibration mechanisms. While Microsoft settled outside of court, Nintendo decided to fight.

The fact that Anascape doesn't actually manufacture any products that make use of the patents, combined with the fact that the patents it holds are for technology such as "Game controller with analog pressure sensor" and "Analog controls housed with electronic displays" - technology commonly used in most gaming consoles - perhaps had some bearing on the Federal Court's decision to grant Nintendo's appeal.

Source: <a href=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100413/tc_nm/us_nintendo_patent>Yahoo via <a href=http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=120405>GoNintendo


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[Jared]

Well, thats a good win for Nintendo.

I could only imagine how much they might have lost if it had gone the other way...

 

[Cousin_IT]

the lesson here is: If you are sued in Texas, keep escalating your case till it gets to a court outside Texas.

 

[Aura Guardian]

Woo-hoo. Another victory for Nintendo

 

[Woodscare]

Score 1 for Nintendo!

 

[fix-the-spade]

Score one for common sense!

As much as I like to root for the little guy, the patent system in the US is beyond silly. Patent sitting shysters need taking down a peg or fifty, nevermind the ones who patent things that already exist and they didn't invent...

 

[RJ Dalton]

As much a win as this apparently is for Nintendo, I'm curious about the need for it? Can a company now hold a copyright on the very shape of a controller? I think that's total bullshit. If you want to have some intellectual property over the game content, I can go for that, but the device that you hold and press buttons to interact with it? No.

 

[Jeronus]

Microsoft settles and Nintendo fights then wins. There's a joke in there somewhere.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Another point in Nintendo's favor and a lashing for the trolls trying to leech off Nintendo.

 

[F8L Fool]

the lesson here is: If you are sued in Texas, keep escalating your case till it gets to a court outside Texas.

Ha! Precisely my friend. As they say, everything is bigger in Texas, especially their idiocy. It's not all that odd to see a lawsuit like this though because people are always looking for easy money. I personally don't think they have any grounds for the suit whatsoever, since the features were so baseline.

I mean what's next? A company suing because another company has buttons, and an analog stick? GTFO.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Wow, the fact that they won the first one surprises me. By there logic I should just make a bunch of patents of technology that may exist some day and after it becomes common I'll start handing out court orders.

 

[zombie711]

you dont f*ck with Nintendo, their the disney of video games

 

[Outright Villainy]

I'm patenting Deuterium fusion now, in about 50 years I'll be rich I tell you! Rich as a freaking Nazi!

 

[Gigaguy64]

Good.
Im glad Nintendo didnt back down.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Austin, will you please tell us why the appeal was up held by the court as soon as you find out?

 

[Mr. Mike]

Yay for Nintendo. I guess... I do wish there were less patent trolls. *glares at Tim Langdell*

 

[tkioz]

Damn the US patent system needs an overhaul badly, oh well at least courts are showing some damn common sense lately, what with the biotech patents being overturned recently as well.

 

[obisean]

**Leaves to put a patent on the plastic container**

Seriously though, you shouldn't be able to put a patent on something you never even drew up plans for. If you don't manufacture it that's fine, cause it's only a loss of your money. But to put a patent on "multicolored vibrating piece of plastic" and then sue everything from the video game industry to the porn industry is just greedy. I hope the courts end up making them pay for the entire case with the money they took from Microsoft.