Nintendo Settles Patent Case That Could Have Banned U.S. Wii Sales

August 25, 2009

Nintendo has settled a patent infringement case that could have blocked sales of the Wii in the United States, reports Bloomberg.

As GamePolitics noted last September, Hillcrest Labs not only sued Nintendo, but filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, alleging that the Wii's motion control system infringed upon the Maryland-based company's patents.

Nearly a year (and lots of attorney fees) later, on August 21st, Nintendo and Hillcrest advised the USITC that they had reached an agreement. Financial details were not made public.

Posted in Court Cases International Trade Nintendo Technology Wii

Comments

Re: Nintendo Settles Patent Case That Could Have Banned ...

Submitted by The Hangd Man on Tue, 08/25/2009 - 19:20.

I must say I am a little dissapointed that this was settled out of court. I really wanted to know what patents were being infringed on, if they were specific components they were compaining about or if they were laying claim to all motion controlled remotes.

In recent years, there have been several cases filed against the likes of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft for elements in their systems, and the cases are coming out long after the systems have been on the market, which to me seems like it's just greed in action. Perhaps its about time for the patent system to get a good look over, no?

I hate broccoli/ and think it totally sucks/ Why isn't it meat?

Re: Nintendo Settles Patent Case That Could Have Banned ...

Submitted by JDKJ on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 06:17.

By visiting the USPTO's website you should be able to search for patents registered by Hillcrest. Reviewing the results of that search should enable you to identify patents that relate to motion-controlled remotes and the specific elements of that technology to which Hillcrest lays claim.

Re: Nintendo Settles Patent Case That Could Have Banned ...

Submitted by jedidethfreak on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 20:24.

I checked the PTO website and searched for Hillcrest. I found a patent for a motion-controlled mouse based on a three-axis system that looked far more advanced than what's in the Wii remote. I don't see Nintendo as actually having stolen said technology, but it looked close enough to me that I would probably have filed suit.

---

He was dead when I got here.

--- With the first link, the chain is forged.

Re: Nintendo Settles Patent Case That Could Have Banned ...

Submitted by MonkeyPeaches on Tue, 08/25/2009 - 16:29.

Now, if I could only find one.

Re: Nintendo Settles Patent Case That Could Have Banned ...

Submitted by E. Zachary Knight on Tue, 08/25/2009 - 16:36.

Have you not been to a store recently? Do you not shop at Amazon.com? These things are as common as any other game system now. If I were to walk into Target right now, I would find at least 10.

E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma

E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary

Re: Nintendo Settles Patent Case That Could Have Banned ...

Submitted by MonkeyPeaches on Tue, 08/25/2009 - 17:57.

My local best buy is always out, my local target is always out, my local shopko is always out, I do not have a credit card.

Re: Nintendo Settles Patent Case That Could Have Banned ...

Submitted by PHX Corp on Tue, 08/25/2009 - 15:10.

Well I can breathe a sigh of relief

Watching JT on GP is just like watching an episode of Jerry springer only as funny as the fights

Re: Nintendo Settles Patent Case That Could Have Banned ...

Submitted by killatia on Tue, 08/25/2009 - 10:49.

Well im glad that the wii isn't gonna get banned in the USA.

http://www.magicinkgaming.com/

Shout box

DorthLous: Passed 1.5M$. And I'd also say that Brutal Legend is far from being a bad game. I just think it was a few levels under what people expected from the people working on the project.02/11/2012 - 8:25am

Technogeek: Brutal Legend wasn't bad so much as "marketing had no idea how the game actually played", causing it to suffer accordingly.02/10/2012 - 10:38pm

RedMage: It looks the CIA's website has been DDOS'ed. Anon?02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

RedMage: Brutal Legend.02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

ddrfr33k: Has anything Tim Schafer ever made been of crap caliber? I'm struggling to think of one...02/10/2012 - 7:37pm

Guamish: I think it is in good hands. Tim did a game for the GDC award show and that was fun for how short it was.02/10/2012 - 12:22pm

Andrew Eisen: It'll be tragic if the game ultimately sucks.02/10/2012 - 12:17pm

james_fudge: $1.3 million02/10/2012 - 11:32am

Uncharted NES: Germany Says It Won't Sign ACTA [Update: ... Yet]- http://tinyurl.com/7r2twrg02/10/2012 - 11:21am

Andrew Eisen: Damn. Double Fine's Kickstarter fund has already passed a million dollars.02/09/2012 - 8:16pm

Andrew Eisen: Audrey didn't quote the sassy parts. Here's IGN's article: http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1218359p1.html And here's my original post: http://tinyurl.com/7y68a3902/09/2012 - 7:50pm

james_fudge: I hope you some said something sassy! Where's the link?02/09/2012 - 7:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Hey, neat. IGN quoted a blog I had writen only two hours earlier. I certainly timed that one pretty well.02/09/2012 - 7:38pm

Andrew Eisen: Toki Tori has been added to the Humble Bundle for Android.02/09/2012 - 5:11pm

james_fudge: Thanks for the heads-up DorthLous02/09/2012 - 4:33pm

DorthLous: Will do, my apologies.02/09/2012 - 4:14pm

Andrew Eisen: I appreciate the heads up but please keep typo alerts to the specific article's comments or PMs.02/09/2012 - 3:33pm

DorthLous: The title says 30, but in the article, the developer says it's like a 20% net tax http://www.gamepolitics.com/2012/02/09/developers-call-facebook-currency-transaction-fee-thirty-percent-tax02/09/2012 - 2:43pm

Uncharted NES: If they actually release Final Fantasy XI for PlayStation Vita, then I will consider buying one.02/09/2012 - 12:13pm

Uncharted NES: Customers Petition Apple to End Worker Abuse with 250,000 signatures- http://tinyurl.com/6vpuom202/09/2012 - 11:28am

All shouts

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