Nintendo gets sued!

[Theo Samaritan]

I always wonder why it takes them this long to come out with these lawsuits - the Wii's been on sale for nearly two years, and Hillcrest are only picking up on the motion control now?

maybe it took them this long to finally get their hands on a wii

It's the same deal as with Sony I think. Sony got sued and lost because of them using a particular vibration motor for their dual shock's without the correct deal with the company that invented them. Hence why the first PS3 controllers had no vibration feature.

But the company sued them in 06, when they had been using the same motor since 97. A bit much no?

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

Nintendo will literally pump money into lawyers without batting an eyelid

 

[aniki21]

The answer is simple. If Nintendo is using stolen technology,the company is making millions of dollars while Hillcrest is making none of it.

That's a bit of a harsh judgement to make, before the case has even had its first hearing.

There's bound to have been enough similarities in the way that Nintendo's Wiimotes function and the technology that Hillcrest has a patent for, but there's all sorts of reasons Nintendo could get through this - if they prove that it's an obvious solution to the problems posed during design, for one. I'm no hardware engineer, but I'm sure there's not all that many components out there that can detect motion in 3D space, and there'll be limited ways of combining them.

 

[Amnestic]

Nintendo will literally pump money into lawyers without batting an eyelid

I love it when people use the word literally like that. I'd post one of those Inigo Montoya pics but I fear the banhammer ;/

Still, it should be noted that literally pumping money into lawyers would involve some sort of liquidation machine and a giant syringe, as well as eyedrops to prevent batting eyelids.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Stupid American sue culture, the lowest and dirtiest way to make a quick buck, Hell Even Drug Dealers go to more trouble to "earn" their money.

It's a cheap trick to ride on Nintendo's succes. You don't see anyone sue $ony for their motion controller.

I think Micro$oft and $ony got sued because of the vibration functions in the controller, hence why the PS3's initial controllers had no rumble.

 

[astaldodhol]

Stupid American sue culture, the lowest and dirtiest way to make a quick buck, Hell Even Drug Dealers go to more trouble to "earn" their money.

It's a cheap trick to ride on Nintendo's succes. You don't see anyone sue $ony for their motion controller.

I think Micro$oft and $ony got sued because of the vibration functions in the controller, hence why the PS3's initial controllers had no rumble.

...
Wait, WHAT? Why would they sue for that?
Call me stupid, or whatever.
But WHY?

 

[Quaidis]

Is it me, or are most of the lawsuits coming from America? Especially when Nintendo systems are originally created in Japan.

This case was brought up before, a few weeks ago. I believe on one of the sites 'featured' threads. So far nothing has been done with the case outside of saying that some scientific sobs are whining about how the wiimote is similar to their ideas.

The only real large suit that happened to Nintendo was regarding the Wavebird, and those people tried to sue all three major companies for the simple thumb-joystick design.

Nintendo can easily make the claim that they never heard of the scientists in, where, Missouri? That this is all a coincidence and not to be taken so literally.

Edit - here you go http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/85828

If you type 'Nintendo sued' into the search category, you'll get many topics on many different attempts. Some have been repeated.

 

[Spartan Bannana]

[Face palm picture deleted

Again with this crap?

isn't it hard enough to get one of these bastards!?

Keep that face palm picture handy, you'll need it for when you get put on probation for posting it.
Honestly it seems like Nintendo gets sued every week nowadays, they're kinda like the dog taht pees on the carpet, the first time it's like "Aww, come on" and now it's just kinda like a thing they do.

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

Stupid American sue culture, the lowest and dirtiest way to make a quick buck, Hell Even Drug Dealers go to more trouble to "earn" their money.

It's a cheap trick to ride on Nintendo's succes. You don't see anyone sue $ony for their motion controller.

I think Micro$oft and $ony got sued because of the vibration functions in the controller, hence why the PS3's initial controllers had no rumble.

...
Wait, WHAT? Why would they sue for that?
Call me stupid, or whatever.
But WHY?

Another company had the patent for the rumble feature, and so to include it in the controllers they had to pay a big fee to the company, Sony didn't want to pay, hence no rumble.

The patent is for a motion sensing remote and the product of Hillcrests that uses it is called The Loop. I have looked at it's features and Hillcrest have a very good case against Nintendo.

I'm sure Nintendo wouldn't have to withdraw the wii, if they lost though they would probably withdraw just the wiimote.

 

[Theo Samaritan]

I'm sure Nintendo wouldn't have to withdraw the wii if they lost though probably just the wiimote.

One of the four patents they are apparently using witout permission is the display technology in the Wii console itself, if I read the article right.

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

I'm sure Nintendo wouldn't have to withdraw the wii if they lost though probably just the wiimote.

One of the four patents they are apparently using witout permission is the display technology in the Wii console itself, if I read the article right.

Ouch! If Nintendo lose it will decimate them, it's entirely dependent on whether the court decides in Hillcrests favour, Nintendo would have to pay them off or withdraw everything.

 

[Specialist1924]

I have to agree with a post I've read either on this site or another forum site: there should be a reasonable way of saying that if Company A has a patent on a type of technology, but don't use it within a certain amount of time, Company B has the right to at least attempt it.

Think of where we'd be if someone bought up patents to everything they 'foresee' happening (ie flying cars, virtual reality video games, etc) in the future, but because they don't actually use/design that technology, it goes to waste, since no one else can legally touch it without paying for permission.

 

[Aries_Split]

First of all

http://kotaku.com/5039638/nintendo-gets-sued-over-wii
http://kotaku.com/5051553/us-international-trade-commission-investigating-wii-patent-infringement-case
http://kotaku.com/5051819/nintendo-responds-to-trade-commission-investigation-of-wii

Read them in order. Makes more sense. For those who are lazier.

Don't roll those eyes. Unlike most Wii patent lawsuits, this one could be a little more serious. Following a complaint filed in August, the U.S. International Trade Commission have agreed to investigate claims made by Hillcrest Laboratories that the Nintendo Wii infringes on four patents they hold for motion-controlled devices.