Nintendo Sued Over Motion Patent
Wii and Wii U Allegedly Infringes on Philips Motion Technology
Electronics company Koninklijke Philips (or just Philips) has alleged that Nintendo infringed on Philips’ motion-sensor patent when they developed the hardware for the entire Wii line of consoles and accessories which includes motion sensor technology. The lawsuit, filed May 14, spells financial trouble for the Japanese video game company, which has already faced abysmal sales in Q1.
According to the lawsuit filed earlier today:
Upon information and belief, Nintendo has made, used, sold, offered for sale, and imported interactive virtual modeling hardware and software products within the United States that model a user’s body in a virtual environment by animating a virtual body to follow the physical movements of the user.
The lawsuit also claims that Philips issued warnings to Nintendo twice, once on Nov. 14 2011 and again on Dec. 16, 2011, leading Philips to claim Nintendo was aware of the request to cease production of their hardware and simply did not care:
Nintendo has with specific intent or willful blindness, actively and knowingly induced infringement of the ’379 patent by providing its users and others with detailed explanations, instructions, information, and support services related to arrangements, applications, and uses of its interactive virtual modeling products that promote and demonstrate how to use its interactive virtual modeling products in an infringing manner, and upon information and belief, those users and others have used the interactive virtual modeling products in an infringing manner.
If the case goes to trial in the United States, Philips requests one by jury and hopes to stop the production of Wii devices while the trial is ongoing. If successful, that would temporarily end sales of the Wii U, Wii U GamePad, Wii, Wii Mini Wii Remote, and Wii Remote Plus.
Nintendo has yet to offer a formal statement in return.
Source: Engadget Game Informer Scribed
