Nintendo Sued over the Wii

Amaury · Sep 7, 2011

Jeez, there sure are a lot of lawsuits going on lately.

Here's the article link.

ThinkOptical, manufacturers of the Wavit remote, has decided to sue Nintendo (NTDOF.PK) over the Wii, including other retailers and manufacturers like Wal-Mart (WMT) in the complaint. And it's chosen the setting most likely to yield a win, the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas.

Thatâ€™s not to say that ThinkOptical will get a win, but this particular court tends to favor the patent holder over all else. The patent in question, U.S. Patent Number 7,796,116, is titled â€œElectronic equipment for handheld vision based absolute pointing system.â€ ThinkOpticâ€™s primary argument in the case is that Nintendo had previous knowledge that the Wii would infringe based on the Trademark Officeâ€™s rejection of certain claims in Nintendo-filed patents, reports Law360.

Said ThinkOptic in its complaint:
The rejection of ... applications â€” assigned to Nintendo Co. Ltd. â€” based on the â€™116 patent is proof that the Nintendo defendants knew or should have known of the objective risk that one or more of their products infringed at least one claim of at least the â€™116 Patent.

ThinkOptic included two other patents in the case as well: One called â€œHandheld Device for Handheld Vision Based Absolute Pointing Systemâ€ (7,852,317) and another titled â€œHandheld Vision Based Absolute Pointing Systemâ€ (7,864,159). These two, coupled with the â€™116 patent, make up the basis for the Wavit Remote.

According to ThinkOptic, just about every part of the Wii infringes these patents in some capacity, including the gaming system as a whole, Wii controllers, the sensor bars, and even the games. ThinkOptic also gave Nintendo and the court a heads-up on the Wii U; apparently, that too infringes on ThinkOpticâ€™s patents.

Other big names listed as respondents in the suit include Imation (IMN), RadioShack (RSH) and JC Penney (JCP). ThinkOptic is asking for an injunction against violating products, as well as royalties, attorneyâ€™s fees, and damages for lost profits. A jury trial has been requested.
Click to expand...

Patman · Sep 7, 2011

Here' s a picture from a December 31 2009 Sony patent :

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP2359915A1.pdf

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Nintendo Sued over the Wii

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