Nintendo Controllers Face U.S. Ban

[Andy Chalk]

Nintendo Controllers Face U.S. Ban

Nintendo's Wii Classic, WaveBird and GameCube controllers may become very scarce in the U.S. following a judge's decision to ban their sale.

The ban is the result of a patent infringement Nintendo [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/83876] by a company called Anascape, a small firm in Texas that claimed the controllers in question violated 12 of its patents. The company was awarded $21 million in damages, as well as an order halting the sale of the controllers.

The ban will be postponed, however, while Nintendo takes the matter to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The company will have to post a bond or put royalties into an escrow account, but will be free to continue selling the controllers when it does, although the WaveBird and GameCube controllers are no longer being offered in the U.S.

Doug Cawley, a lawyer for Anascape, claimed the ban was justified because his client wants to enter the market, but Nintendo has "clogged the channel." Anascape's technology is also being used by Sony and Microsoft in their consoles, but Sony licensed the patent in 2004, while Microsoft settled the lawsuit filed against it on May 1, just prior to the start of the trial.

Source: GamesIndustry [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/wii-classic-controller-faces-sales-ban-in-us]


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[Darkong]

Looks like Nintendo will have to follow what MS did and settle up with Anascape.

To be honest this whole thing sounds to me like Anascape made a patent and sat on it until a situation like this occured where they could sue a couple of bigger companies for money and then get licenses afterwards to sue the tech.

 

[GoldenShadow]

Armed with this news. I think I will go buy a few extra classic controllers to save for Ebay auctioning.

 

[Yunatwilight]

Yeah, this sounds like patent hogging to me. Anascape wants to enter the market but Nintendo has "clogged the channel"? This is like claiming that the government you're running from your basement is getting its "style cramped" by those silly people out in Washington DC (or London or Geneva or wherever).

 

[BasicMojo]

It's really a shame that they let any idiot with a chip on his shoulder file a lawsuit for millions of dollars these days.

 

[tendo82]

Another BS patent trolling suit.

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

lemme get this straight

1. Nintendo reveals first controller with an analogue stick for the N64. It's primitive by today's standards but it is successful and works well

2. Sony put 2 sticks on their controllers (beat THAT nintendo!) and register with these anascape twats

3. Anascape sues nintendo for beating them to it.


infuriating bollocks, is what i call it

 

[Necrohydra]

So...why wasn't this case filed when the gamecube was originally released? Yanno..back in 2001? Or, hell, how about when the controller was originally unveiled, prior to that? You mean it took this company 5 years to realize "Oh, hey..that controller design looks similiar to ours! We'd better do something about it!" And enter the market? With a controller for a console that's virtually dead (barring the backwards compatibility on the Wii)?

I've not done heavy research on Anascape, but it seems to me it sat on a patent, then went up to each of the big console manufacturers and said "Gimme money!!"

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

So...why wasn't this case filed when the gamecube was originally released? Yanno..back in 2001? Or, hell, how about when the controller was originally unveiled, prior to that? You mean it took this company 5 years to realize "Oh, hey..that controller design looks similiar to ours! We'd better do something about it!" And enter the market? With a controller for a console that's virtually dead (barring the backwards compatibility on the Wii)?

I've not done heavy research on Anascape, but it seems to me it sat on a patent, then went up to each of the big console manufacturers and said "Gimme money!!"

In a way it was clever of the to come up with their thing before it became the norm, but suing Nintendo for putting 2 of their own sticks on their controllers? and now?! it's childish, to say the least.

 

[Flour]

Anyone know the actual patents Anascape is talking about?

But this 4-5 year wait(can't remember and don't care) isn't even surprising, I've seen sites shut down because a few countries still had copyright on music nearly 50 years old.(I know that's copyright and not a patent but it's basically about the same thing, using something that someone else wants money for).

 

[Darkong]

So...why wasn't this case filed when the gamecube was originally released? Yanno..back in 2001? Or, hell, how about when the controller was originally unveiled, prior to that? You mean it took this company 5 years to realize "Oh, hey..that controller design looks similiar to ours! We'd better do something about it!" And enter the market? With a controller for a console that's virtually dead (barring the backwards compatibility on the Wii)?

Call me cynical if you like (and indeed I am), but I suspect its because at the time Nintendo didn't have the money rolling in like they do now, the GC was not a great success so Anascape maybe thought it wasn't worth the risk to try and get money out of them then. Now the Wii has been a huge global success they probably think the time is right to get themselves a big wad of cash.

 

[The_Mop]

As far as I've gathered after a quick google search, Anascape design sensors. It doesn't suprise me that something like this has come to light. The amount of licensing that goes into components of pretty much any electronic device are ridiculous, and some of it is a very weird grey area.

Think about it, how many parts in your average iPod do you think are made by Apple?

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Yet another reason why America catches so much flak from the international community. Stupid people suing over stupid crap just because they want some easy way to make money. Do you think they would have made $21 million plus the unknown amount from Microsoft if they marketed before Nintendo and Microsoft? No.

 

[Echolocating]

Doug Cawley, a lawyer for Anascape, claimed the ban was justified because his client wants to enter the market, but Nintendo has "clogged the channel."

Heh, yeah. Whatever. Anascape is in the patent business, not the console one. We all know how crooked the patent business is.

How can you tell a lawyer is lying... ?

;-)

 

[pha kin su pah]

Yet another reason why America catches so much flak from the international community. Stupid people suing over stupid crap just because they want some easy way to make money. Do you think they would have made $21 million plus the unknown amount from Microsoft if they marketed before Nintendo and Microsoft? No.

it could be called stupid or it could be called pure Genius, make a patent, wait then cash in, its like an almost zero cost investment just waiting to hit a motherload!

 

[Ibuki]

Yet another reason why America catches so much flak from the international community. Stupid people suing over stupid crap just because they want some easy way to make money. Do you think they would have made $21 million plus the unknown amount from Microsoft if they marketed before Nintendo and Microsoft? No.

it could be called stupid or it could be called pure Genius, make a patent, wait then cash in, its like an almost zero cost investment just waiting to hit a motherload!

Still, shows the kind of ethics the company runs on.
sadly seems like , for a while now, America is known for sue happy citizens
thikig they can ge rich.

For example (slightly off topic) a robber brok into a familys house,
and their dog attack him causing him to be cuaght. He tuns
around and sues h family for his injuries from the dog, and the bail money
he had to pay to get out of holding.

Or the bank robber that sued local goverment (can't remeber wat state) for the guilt he
suffered for killing an officer he shot that didn't have a kevlar vest.

Not the best examples, but the point i'm trying to make is that people
like to sue people if they think they'll get loads of cash quick.

 

[bpm195]

Time to reform patent law and copyright law into something reasonable?

Any, at least is somewhat of a David and Goliath story and not the typical huge company crushing a start up because their new ideas are vaguely similar to something the law department at the huge company thought was worth monopolizing.

 

[Skrapt]

BRB, going to file a patent on controlling a computer with nose gestures, wait for 5 years after it becomes mainstream and sue every manufacturer out there