Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Court Sides With Nintendo, Reverses Patent Decision
The Federal Court of Appeals today reversed a jury decision from 2008 that found that a trio of Nintendo’s controllers violated a patent held by Anascape Ltd. In that original decision, a jury determined Wii’s remote and nunchuk didn’t violate that patent, though the Wii’s classic controller and the GameCube’s WaveBird and standard controllers did. Before the appeal, Nintendo was ordered to pay $21 million to Anascape. Here’s a snippet from Anascape’s patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,906,700:
“A hand operated controller or converter structured for allowing hand inputs to be converted or translated into electrical outputs, the controller structured with a plate or platform moveable relative to a base or housing about two mutually perpendicular axes generally parallel to the platform to effect a plurality of sensors for defining output signal(s) based on movement of the platform. The sensors each have an electrically active activator spatially separated from an electric contact surface. A tactile feedback motor with shaft and offset weight is mounted as a component of the controller for providing vibration to be felt by a hand operating the controller. In some embodiments the sensors are pressure sensitive variable output sensors."
In other words, they’ve described an analog control stick, the likes of which have been in use for decades. Aside from holding this patent, Anascape doesn’t appear to be manufacturing any products at this time. An online search only turned up references to the lawsuits, and an online presence could not be found.
“In 2008, the jury determined that the Wii Remote and Nunchuk did not infringe,” said Nintendo of America General Counsel Rick Flamm. “Today the Federal Circuit’s ruling confirmed that none of Nintendo’s controllers infringe. We appreciate that our position has been vindicated.”
Microsoft was also hit with a lawsuit from Anascape in 2006, though the company decided to settle out of court.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
