Federal Circuit Court Vindicates Nintendo in Patent Lawsuit
Posted on April 13, 2010 by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Today the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that none of Nintendo’s video game controllers infringe on a patent asserted by Anascape, Ltd.
Nintendo had been accused by Anascape, Ltd., of infringing on U.S. Patent No. 6,906,700. The case was tried before a jury in the Eastern District of Texas in May 2008. The jury found that neither the motion-sensing Wii Remote™ controller, nor the Nunchuk™ controller, infringes on the patent. However, the jury found that the Classic Controller™ for the Wii™ console, and the WaveBird™ and standard controllers for Nintendo GameCube™ did infringe on the patent. Today’s decision, however, completely reversed the jury’s findings of infringement.
“In 2008, the jury determined that the Wii Remote and Nunchuk did not infringe,” said Nintendo of America General Counsel Rick Flamm. “Today the Federal Circuit’s ruling confirmed that none of Nintendo’s controllers infringe. We appreciate that our position has been vindicated.”
For reference, the case is Anascape, Ltd. v. Nintendo of America Inc. and the citation is 2008-1500.
For more information about Nintendo, visit www.nintendo.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.3 billion video games and more than 558 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.
