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Nintendo loses $21 million on patent infringement case

May 15, 2008 in Industry News comments 18

Nintendo have always prided themselves on their originality. Unfortunately in this case the courts do not agree.
Back in 2006 a small Texas based gaming company called Anascape sued Nintendo for patent infringement in the creation of the Wii, Wavebird and Gamecube controllers. After almost two years the courts have ruled in favour of Anascape, and Nintendo must now pay $21 million compensation to Anascape and while Nintendo can certainly spare the cash this is definitely a humiliating blow.

On Wednesday a federal jury ruled in favor of Anascape, a small East Texas-based gaming company, in a lawsuit that was originally filed in 2006, the Associated Press reports. The jury found that Nintendo infringed on Anascape's patent while designing its Wii Classic, WaveBird and Gamecube controllers.



Nintendo will seek an appeal in a bid to have the $21 million award "significantly" reduced, according to a spokesperson, who said that the company was pleased that no infringement was found with the motion-sensing technology used in its Wii Remote and Nuncheck controllers.
Bale Fire via next-gen.biz »
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Most recently commented on by on May 20, 2008

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  • 0
    chautemoc May 15, 08
    Ouch . =/
  • 0
    Akira_EX May 15, 08
    It would be a humiliating blow if Anascape was a company that actually did anything. But in the case of actually having no real product, and almost next-to-none information about the company, you can say that it's a bullshit move.

    This isn't the first time the US patent system has shown its problems, and won't be the last.
  • 0
    Dio May 15, 08
    Yeah, this isn't humiliating at all.

    Anascape, as a company, is humiliating.
  • -2
    vaga_koleso May 15, 08
    Umm, he said "Analscape". Hehe.
  • 0
    Jeterocks May 15, 08
    Come on now. With that Logic you are saying that Anascape is a joke company because they may not have the funds that Nintendo have. They obviously had the ideas to create something great, but not the funds to go through with their idea.

    This is what big companies thrive on. Finding the small company that can't do squat with their idea, mooching off their idea and actually putting a product into production that the small company couldn't do.
    • 0
      Akira_EX May 15, 08
      At the same time, there are companies that file for patents and just sit on them, waiting for others to infringe on them and make bank on the lawsuit.
    • 0
      McClubbin May 15, 08
      Well there's no point in sitting on a patent and not doing anything with it and not letting other companies who have the resources actually do something with the idea. Granted, they did come up with the idea and the credit should go to them but what's the point of depriving the world of their idea just because they're selfish enough to not let anyone with the resources touch it? Guess capitalism just makes you selfish.

      Anyways, I find it funny that anyone who said something against Anascape got a thumbs down.
  • -1
    chautemoc May 15, 08
    These comments make me wonder how far people would go to defend Nintendo, even if they were proven guilty of something..
    Not saying they are or aren't either way..
    • 0
      Dio May 17, 08
      Even if it was Sony or Microsoft, or any other company for that matter, I would still react the same.

      I hate when companies file patents ... then do nothing with them. They just wait for big companies to create something remotely similar to their patent, then they sue for millions. It's disgusting. If you're gonna file a patent, ACTUALLY CREATE THE PRODUCT.
  • -1
    DusktoDawn May 15, 08
    The company just had to pay 21 million, so what?
    • 2
      Raziel_326 May 15, 08
      You make is sound like $21 million isn't much. I know some nintendo fanboys will respond and say some shit like "$21 mill is pocket change for Nintendo". It doesn't matter how much money you have, $21 million is still quite a damn lot of money to lose over something like this.
    • 0
      Final Blade May 15, 08
      By your logic its like saying "MS losing 1.9 billion is nothing", which it is something. I know MS has alot of money but 1.9 billion is incredible amount of money to lose.

      Anyway this sucks for Nintendo.
      But it sucks more for Anascape.
  • 1
    BANDITO ATTACK May 15, 08
    its all about the <3 of the $$$
  • 0
    RikuNova27 May 16, 08
    Ouch...that is a huge loss for Nintendo...
    • 0
      Spiritual May 17, 08
      Not a relly huge loss, maybe in sales and stuff, but nintendo mas millions. They're going to lose money from the embarassment though.
  • 0
    tornjinx May 16, 08
    Twi's got it in full. Nintendo shouldn't be humiliated. Anascape being a company still in business, that is the humiliating part.
  • 0
    Spiritual May 17, 08
    That's not good for Nintendo. Their products are going to be less popular, and they lose a little bit of money. I would still buy Nintendo stuff though, it's not a huge concern to me =p.
  • -1
    Master Jynch May 20, 08
    That's a bit of a fail. One would think that Nintendo should be free from it just because some tiny company patented something and did nothing with it. The American justice system fails that way.

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