Nintendo Files $40 Million Lawsuit Against Mobile Developer Colopl

The gaming giant has claimed that the developer has infringed on a number of company patents.

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Those who follow game news know that it's not unusual for Nintendo to get itself into various legal suits. To be frank, it happens pretty often — we learned just last November that the company was currently involved in a suit with the creators of the Wikipad, and it paid out $10 million in another suit to iLife Technologies in August before that. So maybe it shouldn't come as any big surprise to learn that Nintendo is reportedly putting together a fresh lawsuit, this time against a Japanese mobile development studio Colopl.

Colopl is the studio behind hit Japanese mobile games Quiz RPG and the more popular title Shiro Neko Project. The developer also made a game titled White Cat Project, which Nintendo reportedly believes violated one of their own technology patent rights which involves the operation of a joystick over a touch panel, much like the setup used in the Nintendo DS Wrist Strap.

This information comes in via Japanese Nintendo, which reports that five different patent infringements have been brought up as part of the suit, with Nintendo is seeking out damages to the tune of 4.4 billion yen, or just shy of $40 million dollars. Colopl itself reportedly believes the allegations are unfair or perhaps unfounded, of course, so there's no telling how the suit might play out. In any case, it's likely to be quite a while before game fans hear any more about the case, as settling legal matters always takes time.

In other Nintendo news, Nintendo just recently announced that they still plan to continue supporting the Nintendo 3DS for the forseeable future. This is likely because fans have stated concerns that the Switch's popularity would divert attention away from the handheld, and rightly so — the Switch became the fastest selling console in US history just last week.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    January 10, 2018 3:10 PM

    Kevin Tucker posted a new article, Nintendo Files $40 Million Lawsuit Against Mobile Developer Colopl

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      January 10, 2018 4:31 PM

      [deleted]

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        January 10, 2018 5:37 PM

        Super obnoxious. Their patent on d-pads finally expiring is why you’re only now seeing other gamepads with good ones.

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          January 10, 2018 8:19 PM

          I presume you know this, but they almost destroyed the video game rental market way back. A fairly seminal case, actually.

          Howard Lincoln, Esq. love him!

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            January 10, 2018 8:43 PM

            Oh yeah, they abused the hell out of their practical monopoly.

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              January 10, 2018 9:58 PM

              Nintendo of the 80/90's image/conduct was the caricature of japanese business sharks. One of the biggest achievements of iwata was to put a likeable face on the brand. Ask any developers how much of a gauntlet it was to get to release something for them and they will overtake each other with horror stories.

              All the gatorade colored achievement nonsense heavy and XXXTREEEEMEEE!!!11 brand bullshit of mirosoft aside we really owe them for opening the console market and doing stuff like xbla/indie games etc.

              Its still a shit experience compared to nintendos streamlined (or lacking, depending from perspective) pure gaming experience (i really hate the console gui, how the fuck is steam big picture mode a better experience than xbox/ps4)?

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      January 10, 2018 5:17 PM

      I’d like to know what all the patents involved are but i feel like joystick on a touch screen shouldn’t be patented

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