Nintendo has scored a major legal victory with the recent dismissal of a $10 million judgment awarded in a Wii Remote motion control patent case.
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In late 2017, a jury awarded a company called iLife a $10.1 million verdict over alleged patent infringement centered on Wii Remote motion control. The patent in question appears to be U.S. Patent No. 6864796, “Systems within a communication device for evaluating movement of a body and methods of operating the same”. In short, the patent appeared to cover motion controllers.
A total of 6 iLife patents were claimed to be violated by Nintendo, but five of the six were dismissed by the court in the 2017 case. A judgment on the final remaining patent succeeded and Nintendo promised to appeal.
Now, a press release from Nintendo has announced the results: the $10.1 million award has been overturned with a judge determining that iLife’s patent was trying to cover the “broad concept” of detecting motion with motion sensors without permission to do so.
“Nintendo has a long history of developing new and unique products, and we are pleased that, after many years of litigation, the court agreed with Nintendo,” said Nintendo of America’s Deputy General Counsel Ajay Singh. “We will continue to vigorously defend our products against companies seeking to profit off of technology they did not invent.”
