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Some of our more legally minded readers may already be familiar with the ongoing legal dispute between Nintendo and Seijiro Tomita. For the uninitiated, the crux of the case hinges on Nintendo’s purported infringement with its 3DS game console upon a patent for glasses free 3D technology owned by the plaintiff’s company Tomita Technologies International Ltd.
The latest development in the case, which extends back into the dark ages of the year 2011, has awarded Tomita a percentage, specifically 1.82 percent of the wholesale cost, of each 3DS unit sold. While less than the fixed $4.45 per device that he was seeking, the ruling should still serve to add a nice bit of padding to Tomita’s wallet, especially if 3DS continues to sell at the same steady rate. The award of a percentage rather than a fixed amount, however, does of course ensure that as the cost of the technology that powers the device grows cheaper, so, too, will the payout to the plaintiff.
There is no word as of yet as to whether or not Nintendo will appeal this latest decision. If history teaches us anything, however, it’s that we can likely expect this battle to continue on indefinitely, perhaps even into the life span of Nintendo’s next handheld, at which point the Big N may unintentionally infringe on another company’s patent and start the whole cycle over again.
Source: Law 360
