http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aTHHORLXkQjU

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co., maker of the Wii video-game system, sued accessory seller Nyko Technologies Inc. over what it says is a knock-off of the Nunchuk remote controller used with the popular system.

Nyko sells a wireless Kama Nunchuk designed to work with the Wii system. Nintendo contends the Nyko product copies its patented designs and infringes its trademarks for the Nunchuk name and packaging. This is the first time Kyoto-based Nintendo has sued over an accessory for the Wii, the company said.

The Nyko product ``wholly appropriates the novel shape, design, overall appearance and even the color and materials used in the Nintendo Nunchuk controller,'' Nintendo said in the federal court complaint, filed June 10 in Seattle.

In the Wii system, a player moves the remote and a character on the television screen mimics that motion, such as an underhand throw for bowling or a swing for tennis. Nunchuks are used when the game calls for motion by both hands, for instance when punching in the boxing game in Wii Sports. It's connected to the main remote by a plug and wire.

``We have not knowingly violated anyone's intellectual property and we're still examining this,'' Nyko spokesman C.C. Swiney said today in a telephone interview.

The Wii is the most popular video-game console in the U.S., with 714,000 machines sold in April, Nintendo has said, citing results from researcher NPD Group Inc. The console is often sold out at stores, as is the new exercise game ``Wii Fit'' that first went on sale in the U.S. last month.

Other Accessories

Closely held Nyko, based in Los Angeles, makes other accessories for use with the Wii, including a charging station for the remotes, carrying case for the console, and adapters. The accessories for the Wii and other game consoles are sold online and at retailers such as GameStop Corp. stores.

The Kama Nunchuk, which is advertised as avoiding the ``restrictive wires'' of the Nintendo Nunchuk, sells for $33.99 on Amazon.com Inc.'s Web site. Nintendo's Wii Nunchuk sells for $19.99.

``While Nintendo supports the creation of innovative games and products used with our game systems, we cannot allow third parties to infringe our intellectual property rights,'' Denise Kaigler, a vice president with Nintendo of America, said in a statement.

Nintendo, with U.S. offices in Redmond, Washington, accuses Nyko of infringing both its design patents and trademarks. The company is seeking a court order that would force Nyko to stop selling the wireless controller, plus cash compensation.

The case is Nintendo of America Inc. v. Nyko Technologies Inc., 08cv907, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington (Seattle).

To contact the reporter on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net.

Seriously??? Ninty, why don't you just shut up, make your own wireless nunchuck and stop wasting everyone's time.

Wow ninty is getting money hungry. Does anybody even want to buy that crappy product? I see no point in suing unless they want more money to go on top of their already massive amount.

That's kind of the point. Nintendo probably wanted to release their own wireless nunchuck on their terms and Nyko beat them to the punch. Now Nyko must be sued into oblivion.

 Hm I didn't see it like that. Nintendo could just release a better one though.The Nyko one wasn't really good.

Perhaps, one shouldn't jump to conclusion that Nintendo is at fault here.
Perhaps, Nyko is using identical parts other than the wireless module.

If I am trying to sell my product and someone else decided to sell identical product by copying me, I sure as hell would be suing their ass off along with their dogs.

3rd-party peripheral companies are SUPPOSED to license the rights to make compatible peripherals. If they don't, and they peripherals are IDENTICAL to the original ones (Nintendo's main claim), they are asking to be sued.

Why did Nintendo take so long to sue? We've known about these Nyko nunchucks for a long time now, and many gaming sites have reported on it months ago.

I'm not exactly aware of how long it takes to get these cases into light, but shouldn't this have been raised a while ago?

These copycat accessory companies know they walk a fine line with their products. I haven't seen the details, but it sounds like they're copying too much of Nintendo's design and trademarks. They should have seen this coming.

Boo Nintendo!!