Last month's appeal denial only makes Nintendo more determined to challenge the $21 million decision in a higher court. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=16306 On May 14, 2008, Nintendo Co. was told by a federal jury to pay $21 million to Texas game company Anascape for infringing a patent used in their Wii and GameCube controllers. Nintendo was quick to downplay the verdict and swiftly announced intentions to appeal the lawsuit.
But on June 26, the court denied Nintendo's appeal and request for a reduced verdict. Nintendo now has intentions to appeal to a higher court. "Nintendo does not agree with the ruling of the trial court," said Charlie Scibetta, senior director of public relations at Nintendo of America. "Nintendo intends to appeal this case to the Federal circuit court."
Nintendo believes their work in "rumble controllers" was far ahead of Anascape's when the patent was filed. Nintendo and the court were quick to point out the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers did not violate the Texas Company's patent in any way.
Anascape's patent for a "3D controller with vibration" was filled in November 2000 and issued June 2005. Nintendo's widely popular and innovative Rumble Pak for the Nintendo 64 controller was released in April 1997 and its force feedback vibration quickly became a staple of gameplay.
The jury said that Anascape's lawyers presented enough evidence showing that Nintendo had infringed on patents in the production of the GameCube controller, WaveBird, and Wii Classic Controller. "We appreciate the court's thoughtful consideration in upholding the jury's decision," said Doug Cawley, lead counsel for Anascape. "Although not a giant corporation like Nintendo, Anascape has every right to protect its technology." In a similar claim of controller infringement, Microsoft reached an out-of-court settlement with the small east Texas gaming company on May 1, 2008. Anascape is also in legal talks with Sony Corp. over controller patents. Anascape cited multiple patent violations against Microsoft and Nintendo in the original lawsuits. The breadth of controller mechanisms cited and six year span of patents leaves an incomplete picture that will be established with further legal proceedings.
Topic: Nintendo Plays Hardball over Patent Lawsuit (Read 2792 times)
