Nintendo Wii challenged with another patent suit

Nintendo is being hit with another patent lawsuit, this one involving the Wii remote from a company called ThinkOptical. It alleges that Nintendo's own patent response shows that it had prior knowledge of the competing patent.

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It seems Nintendo's power position in the marketplace has also made it a magnet for lawsuits. The company has fielded plenty in the last few years, and now yet another suit is claiming that Nintendo violated a patent with its Wii console. This one comes from ThinkOptical's Wavit remote, and the company claims that Nintendo had knowledge of the patent due to its own filings.

TechCrunch reports that the suit involves US Patent 7,796,116, for "Electronic equipment for handheld vision based absolute pointing system." ThinkOptical argues that the rejection of certain portions of Nintendo's patent means Nintendo "knew or should have known" of the infringement.

The infringement suit runs the gamut, from the Wii remote and sensor bar to the system itself and game concepts. The company warned that the Wii U infringes on patents as well, so another case could be incoming. The suit also names GameStop, Nyko, RadioShack, JC Penny, and Imation in the suit, and is seeking an injunction against the products. It has requested a jury trial.

In the last few years Nintendo has had to defend against patent lawsuits dealing with the DS, controller ports, vibration, and most recently, the 3DS screen.

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  • reply
    September 8, 2011 8:00 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Nintendo Wii challenged with another patent suit.

    Nintendo is being hit with another patent lawsuit, this one involving the Wii remote from a company called ThinkOptical. It alleges that Nintendo's own patent response shows that it had prior knowledge of the competing patent.

    • reply
      September 8, 2011 9:26 AM

      Please give US more of YOUR hard-earned money.

      • reply
        September 8, 2011 12:51 PM

        Whose hard-earned money is being spent? Nintendo? Nintendo had to earn their money the hard way? You serious? That's funny.

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          September 8, 2011 12:59 PM

          After the Gamecube, most definitely.

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            September 8, 2011 3:45 PM

            They were still printing money with their handhelds, and the Wii is the cancer killing console gaming. Which might be something to actually be thankful for I guess? RIP Fighting games if it happens though. And that's my favorite genre too.

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              September 8, 2011 4:09 PM

              What world do you live in where console gaming is dying? Of you only own a Wii, that would be a crappy console world I guess, but that doesn't mean the actual current-gen hardware is hurting.

              Of course, for me personally, I have a new gaming PC so my consoles (including my unplayed AAA games on the shelf) are up for some dust gathering time.

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                September 9, 2011 11:07 AM

                PC stomps consoles in every hardcore genre, Stupid-handheld devices (like iPads, not like DSs) stomp them at casual games. There is nothing left for the console-market except PC scraps and fighting games.

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              September 8, 2011 5:19 PM

              The only thing I see dying are hard core gamers, as they come to the horrific realization that each of them is being replaced by soccer moms and middle aged dudes that can only finish 6 hour games because the interfere with work and naps.

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                September 8, 2011 5:53 PM

                Or worse, they turn into the middle aged dudes without gaming time.

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      September 8, 2011 2:19 PM

      Filed July 2005? Wasn't the Wii's sensor tech basically finalised by then, or at the very least in an approximate form? It was released in early 2006, and it had to be in production a while before then.

      • reply
        September 8, 2011 2:21 PM

        Yeah, that doesn't sound right, Nintendo would've had those patents long before hand.

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