Posted May 15, 2008 In 2006, a small Texan company by the name of Anascape Ltd. took Nintendo and Microsoft to court, claiming the pair had infringed on patents Anascape held relating to game controllers (presumably this one, filed in 2000, for a "3D controller with vibration"). While Microsoft decided to settle things out of court, Nintendo stuck to their guns, a move which has now cost them $21 million after a Federal jury ruled in Anascape's favour. The ruling applies to Nintendo's GameCube, Wavebird and Classic controllers (but not the Wii Remote or Nunchuk). Nintendo have said only that they plan to appeal, and that they expect the court to "significantly" reduce the amount of money they have to cough up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 15, 2008 Come on Dante and the rest of you, at least post the news we have on the main page. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 15, 2008 The US patent system has been malfunctioning for years. There's a bunch of oportunists and a few reasons why their judicial system (who sucks) makes this viable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 15, 2008 Gotta laugh at this patent traps, having an ambiguous patent and than do nothing can earn you millions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 15, 2008 Gotta laugh at this patent traps, having an ambiguous patent and than do nothing can earn you millions. Yea. Nintendo are getting sued for having analogue buttons on the GameCube controller. And the patent was filed after the release of the GameCube. Does this mean that the company can sue everyone who has made a product with an analogue button on it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 27, 2008 Court Denies Appeal In $21m Nintendo Patent Suit Following a decision in May that ordered Nintendo to pay Texas company Anascape $21 million for patent infringements, legal firm McKool Smith has announced that a judge has denied Nintendo's appeal for a lesser penalty. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2006 against both Nintendo and Microsoft, for twelve different game hardware and controller related patents, primarily centered around the use of force feedback and analogue sensor technology within games controllers. For Nintendo's part, the suit centered primarily on the GameCube and WaveBird controllers, and later the Wii Classic Controller. Additionally, the latest release from the firm adds the Wii Remote to the list of infringing devices. In May, Nintendo spokesman Charlie Scibetta was quoted by the Associated Press saying Nintendo expected the court to “significantly” reduce the penalty on its appeal, but McKool Smith has said that on June 26th, a Texas District Court "denied the defendant's motion for a reduced verdict, finding that the jury's award is supported by the evidence." Said the firm's principal and lead counsel for Anascape, "We appreciate the Court's thoughtful consideration in upholding the jury's decision. Although not a giant corporation like Nintendo, Anascape has every right to protect its technology." www.gamasutra.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 27, 2008 they really have to revise these patent scavengers space to act. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 27, 2008 And what are they gonna do with their ill-gotten gains? make more tentative technology, slap a patent on it and wait for someone else to use it again? seriously what a pointless company... at least Nintendo and Microsoft are putting technology to decent use, fair enough if it is the same technology as Anusache made then of course they will want a piece of the pie, but I doubt that it is the same, just similar, either way... made of fail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 27, 2008 Everyone, on the count of three, slap your forehead. 1... 2... 3... *slaps forehead* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 28, 2008 And what are they gonna do with their ill-gotten gains? make more tentative technology, slap a patent on it and wait for someone else to use it again? seriously what a pointless company... at least Nintendo and Microsoft are putting technology to decent use, fair enough if it is the same technology as Anusache made then of course they will want a piece of the pie, but I doubt that it is the same, just similar, either way... made of fail. And what do Nintendo do with their gains when they sue others who infringe their copyrights? Nothing different. More money, and thats all there is to it. If the situation were to be reversed and it was Nintendo getting this money, what would change? Doesnt matter if you dont do anything with it, if you made it, paid for it to be patented, you've got every right to sue another company. All I can say is I hope the EU court doesnt give up the debt Nintendo owe them for price fixing. I've fucking had it being the shunned european customer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 28, 2008 Different thing is, these companies are patent scavengers that explore loop holes to fake this kind of things. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 28, 2008 Everyone, on the count of three, slap your forehead. 1... 2... 3... *slaps forehead* facepalm damn it facepalm:) and nobody can do it better than Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 28, 2008 WTF? Seriously...WTF? Either the system is broken or Nintendo have idiots in their legal department. Nintendo showed us the GameCube controller (complete with rumble) before this patent even existed. Surely that voids the patent? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 28, 2008 They can easily recoup this loss with Pokemon Copper/Nickel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 28, 2008 McKool Smith That is hilarious. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 28, 2008 now nintendo will never do price cuts for the wii haha nor DS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 28, 2008 I'm shocked that they didn't sue Sony. Or that Sony sues this company. The dual shock was out way before this patent was made. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
