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Last week, a UK judge ruled against Nintendo in a patent-infringement case brought on by technology company Philips. While the judge dismissed one of Philips’ alleged infringements, the other passed, specifically against the Nintendo Wii and its use of motion controls. Today, Nintendo issued a statement regarding its desire to appeal the ruling:
“On 20 June 2014, following a trial heard before Mr Justice Birss, the UK Patents Court found that the Wii, Wii U and Wii Remote infringe two patents (’498 and ’650) asserted against Nintendo by Philips Electronics. The ’498 and ’650 patents were held to be invalid as originally granted, but Philips Electronics were permitted to make validating amendments during the course of the litigation.
“A further patent (’484) was asserted by Philips Electronics but was found to be invalid.
“Nintendo firmly believes that the amended ’498 and ’650 patents are invalid and intends to seek permission to appeal Mr Justice Birss’ judgment.
“Philips Electronics has yet to make clear whether it intends to seek permission to appeal any part of the judgment.
“Nintendo is committed to ensuring that this judgment does not affect continued sales of its highly acclaimed line of video game hardware, software and accessories and will actively pursue all such legitimate steps as are necessary to avoid any interruptions to its business.
“Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others”
Philips has brought forward similar lawsuits in the US, France, and Germany. It’s difficult at this time to understand exactly what the full fallout of the case may be. Nintendo may be forced to pay Philips a set amount of royalties per unit sold. Since the lawsuit is in regards to motion control technology, one also must wonder if the company will bring similar charges against Sony and Microsoft.
While Philips has had a number of successful products over the years, the company has a dubious record when it comes to Nintendo fans. In the early ’90s, Nintendo licensed Mario and Zelda to be used in titles for the company’s CD-i player. The resultant games, including Hotel Mario and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, are widely considered some of the worst games of all time.
As usual, stay tuned to Nintendojo where we’ll have more information on the case as it develops.
Source: Nintendo Everything
