Ninty loses $21m case

Nintendo loses $21m case over controllers


Nintendo of America Inc. was ordered to pay a small East Texas gaming company $21 million Wednesday for infringing on a patent while designing controllers for its popular Wii and GameCube systems. A federal jury found in favor of Anascape Ltd. in the lawsuit that was originally filed in 2006. Nintendo spokesman Charlie Scibetta said the company will seek an appeal and expects the court to reduce the award “significantly.” The jury found that Nintendo infringed on Anascape’s patent while designing its Wii Classic, WaveBird and Gamecube controllers.

Scibettra said Nintendo was pleased no infringement was found with the motion-sensing technology used in its wandlike Wii and Nuncheck controllers, which mimic movements by users in games such as tennis and boxing. Attorneys for Anascape did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tyler-based Anascape also sued Microsoft Corp. for patent infringements on game controllers but reached an agreement with the company before the start of the trial against Nintendo, The Lufkin Daily News reported. Microsoft said in a statement that terms of the settlement reached May 1 were confidential.

 

here's a link,
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GadgetGuide/wireStory?id=4859784

and here's some comments,
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=59815

some of the things companies are getting sued for are concepts, patented concepts.

 

You know, I'd rather spend a year in a house with an internet troll than have patent trolls carry on ruining our gaming fun.

OOH, I'VE GOT AN IDEA! Let's patent "A rounded, partially rounded or unrounded sack-like aperture for containing and disposing of waste" then sue everyone with an ass!

 

Update: Nintendo shits out $20m of cash in briefcases. I don't know, I don't think Ninty would have felt that much of an impact on this. Nintendo makes a lot of money. Unlike Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo actually earns money with sales, and Wii's are the best-selling console of this generation to date. Something tells me they're not in too much financial trouble. Anyway, I'm sure this infringement wasn't intentional, it's hard to do something in a way that hasn't already been done in todays market.