Legal issues

by lunamoonfang Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:52 pm

Legal issues

Interlink Electronics filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Nintendo over the pointing functionalities of the Wii Remote, claiming "loss of reasonable royalties, reduced sales and/or lost profits as a result of the infringing activities" of Nintendo.[133] Law firm Green Welling LLP filed a class action lawsuit against Nintendo for its "defective wrist straps".[134] A Texas-based company called Lonestar Inventions has also sued Nintendo, claiming that the company copied one of Lonestar's patented capacitor designs and used it in the Wii console.[135]

Anascape Ltd, a Texas-based firm, also filed a lawsuit against Nintendo for patent infringements regarding Nintendo's controllers.[136] A July 2008 verdict found that a ban would be issued preventing Nintendo from selling the Classic Controller in the United States. Nintendo is free to continue selling the Classic Controller pending an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.[137] On Thursday, April 22, 2010, the Federal Circuit reversed the verdict that Nintendo had infringed Anascape's patented controller.[138]

On August 19, 2008 Hillcrest Laboratories Inc. filed a complaint against Nintendo with the U.S International Trade Commission. The complaint alleges that the Wii Remote infringes on three of its patents. A fourth Hillcrest patent for graphical interfaces displayed on television screens is also alleged to have been violated. Hillcrest therefore sought a ban on Wii consoles imported to the U.S.,[139] but on August 24, 2009, Nintendo and Hillcrest reached a settlement, though the terms have not been publicly disclosed.[140]

The trademark application for "Wii Remote" was given an initial rejection by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO claimed that the word remote is commonly used and therefore should not be trademarked. The USPTO will accept Nintendo's trademark filing if the company disclaims exclusive rights to the word remote in the term.[141]

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