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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Nintendo loses Wii motion controller lawsuit to Philips

daredevil.shark on 23 June 2014

 

Nintendo loses Wii motion controller lawsuit to Philips

By Jenna Pitcher on Jun 23, 2014 at 1:02a

 

Nintendo lost a lawsuit in the U.K. against Koninklijke Philips last Friday where the company was found infringing on two of the Dutch technology company's patents with motion technology used for the Wii and Wii U.

According to court documents filed in the U.S. last month, Philips filed suit against Nintendo for infringing upon a patent for motion control and another for wireless devices that can be remotely controlled by a second device. The suit outlined that Nintendo's Wii, Wii Remote and Wii Remote Plus controllers, Nunchuk, Balance Board, Wii U console, Wii U GamePad, Wii Mini and Wii MotionPlus technology are all in violation of the first patent. The Wii U and GamePad console ecosystem were identified in the suit as infringing upon the second.

"The common general knowledge did not include a device combining a physical motion sensor with a camera and the reasons advanced by Nintendo for putting those two sensors together in one unit are unconvincing," Judge Colin Birss stated in the decision at the U.K. High Court. The judge ruled that Nintendo didn't violate a third patent regarding modeling a user in a virtual environment.

Philips is suing Nintendo over the patents in other countries such as the U.S., Germany and France. Nintendo is of the opinion that the two patents for recognizing hand gestures and motion are invalid and it plans to appeal the decision against the technology used in its Wii products.

"Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others," the company said in a press statement. "Nintendo is committed to ensuring that this judgment does not affect continued sales of its highly acclaimed line of video game hardware, software and accessories and will actively pursue all such legitimate steps as are necessary to avoid any interruptions to its business."

A lawsuit filed by technology company Triton Tech of Texas, LLC accusing Nintendo of  infringing on its patents with Wii Remotes was dismissed by a federal appeals court earlier this month. The decision marked a second time that Triton's patent was found invalid as it did not adequately describe a complete invention.

 

 

Source: http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/23/5833560/nintendo-loses-uk-lawsuit-regarding-wii-motion-controls



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Mystro-Sama on 23 June 2014

Well........ fuck.

Nintendo REALLY needs better lawyers.



daredevil.shark on 23 June 2014
Mystro-Sama said:
Well........ fuck.

Nintendo REALLY needs better lawyers.


It wouldnt be a matter if nintendo filed the patent first.



Proxy-Pie on 23 June 2014

Didn't they appeal or something?



Anfebious on 23 June 2014

The comment section is full of interesting comments:

" Daverost

I’m starting to lose count of how many times Nintendo is being sued for stuff like this. Also losing count of how many times they’re losing these cases. It’s been a sizable number for the last three systems (Wii, 3DS, Wii U) in particular.

"Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others," the company said in a press statement.

This makes me laugh, though."

Or this:

" UAware

Sony actually developed the PS Move in 1999, called Wand at the time. A remote stick with an orb at the top that tracked using colors, initially going to be used for the PS2 with the eyetoy. But Sony could not get it to run correctly with the color and could not get a patent. Gyro came to them with a different method Sony turned them down. Microsoft then turned them down, Gyro went to Nintendo whom hired them

Nintendo hired Gyro to develop the Wii remote in 2001 because they thought Sony would release it as an add on for the PS2.

Sony couldn’t get a patent for the PS Move until 2009, and released it a year later once they did.

The whole idea that Sony copied Nintendo is nonsense when it was the other way around with Nintendo jumping the gun at what Sony was doing. There’s even a video uploaded on youtube that shows Sony showcasing a magic duel with the Wand. The fact that the PS Move uses the exact same design and color tracking as the Wand shows that Sony eventually planned on releasing it all along."

And this:

" Pluribus

Great, the more lawsuits Nintendo loses and the more the company has to pay, the better I feel. I’m getting tired of the gimmicks and the little kid crap. Nintendo lost my respect since the Gamecube days. Oh by the way, get rid of that POS gamepad while you’re at it."

Check out more in the comment section, Polygon needs all the attention they can get.



"I've Underestimated the Horse Power from Mario Kart 8, I'll Never Doubt the WiiU's Engine Again"

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TheDarkTriforce on 23 June 2014

I will never purchase any Phillips product again!!! Phillips should start making products that don't suck to make money instead of beeing a Patent Troll and ruin other companys like Nintendo!!!



JGarret on 23 June 2014



WhiteEaglePL on 23 June 2014

I find it hard to belive how the court, just alone from the patent name, could not recognise this was a patent troll.

this sort of thing they "patented" could LITTERALLY be anything.



Gintoki on 23 June 2014
Anfebious said:
The comment section is full of interesting comments:

" Daverost

I’m starting to lose count of how many times Nintendo is being sued for stuff like this. Also losing count of how many times they’re losing these cases. It’s been a sizable number for the last three systems (Wii, 3DS, Wii U) in particular.

"Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others," the company said in a press statement.

This makes me laugh, though."

Or this:

" UAware

Sony actually developed the PS Move in 1999, called Wand at the time. A remote stick with an orb at the top that tracked using colors, initially going to be used for the PS2 with the eyetoy. But Sony could not get it to run correctly with the color and could not get a patent. Gyro came to them with a different method Sony turned them down. Microsoft then turned them down, Gyro went to Nintendo whom hired them

Nintendo hired Gyro to develop the Wii remote in 2001 because they thought Sony would release it as an add on for the PS2.

Sony couldn’t get a patent for the PS Move until 2009, and released it a year later once they did.

The whole idea that Sony copied Nintendo is nonsense when it was the other way around with Nintendo jumping the gun at what Sony was doing. There’s even a video uploaded on youtube that shows Sony showcasing a magic duel with the Wand. The fact that the PS Move uses the exact same design and color tracking as the Wand shows that Sony eventually planned on releasing it all along."

And this:

" Pluribus

Great, the more lawsuits Nintendo loses and the more the company has to pay, the better I feel. I’m getting tired of the gimmicks and the little kid crap. Nintendo lost my respect since the Gamecube days. Oh by the way, get rid of that POS gamepad while you’re at it."

Check out more in the comment section, Polygon needs all the attention they can get.


What I bolded. This thread's already been done, but Nintendo clearly fucked up and didn't bring proof that they hired that company to make the Wiimote.

And Philips started negociation with Nintendo in 2011 ? Okay they might haven't known about the Wiimote in 2001, but they saw it since at least 2006, why only now...



Darwinianevolution on 23 June 2014

This is awful! If this succeds, not only Nintendo is going to pay everyhing Philips demands, but it's also going to set a precedent for patent lawsuits and EVERYONE is going to register things with the hope of future benefits! This is a crime against technological advance! What the heck, Phillips and judges!



You know it deserves the GOTY.

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