Electronics company Philips filed a suit against Nintendo yesterday, claiming that Nintendo has knowingly violated two different patents of theirs, and has continued to do so since 2011. Their goal? Monetary compensation and, oh, I don’t know, completely stopping the importation and sales of the Wii U in the United States.
According to Game Informer, Philips’ patents for “Virtual Body Control Device” and “User Interface System Based on Pointing Device” have been knowingly violated by Nintendo, as they’ve been aware of the patents through correspondence dated December 2011.
The patents do state that the technology could be used for video games, so Nintendo could be in quite a bit of trouble. I’m sure if Philips has a case, Nintendo will do what they can to stay out of hot water. Good thing the 3DS prints money, right?
Game Informer also states that Philips seeks “damages for the infringement and enhancement valued at three times that, as well as interest“, as well as an “injunction against further importation and sales of the Wii U and infringing products.”
As if Nintendo needed anymore negative press, right?
Bradley Keene is an avid gamer & aspiring writer from Baltimore, MD that handles news, reviews and editing here at What’s Your Tag?. If he’s not writing or knee-deep in an MMO, he’s usually watching low-budget horror films or following Orioles baseball. Follow him on Twitter, Twitch or contact him by e-mail. Love gaming? Join TEAM XBRO today!
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If anybody saw the WiiU’s fall early, it was me. My comment-chart over the WiiU’s life:
Introducing WiiU: “This won’t fly.”
WiiU games announced: “With this kinda roster, I will not be trading in my Wii.”
Wii discontinuation: “$30 net value? Just wait until this blows over.”
Mario Kart Roster announced: “COME ON! AT LEAST ONE RPG CHARACTER SHOULD BE IN THERE RATHER THAN HONEY QUEEN, PINK GOLD PEACH AND METAL MARIO! I even have a replacement list for them…”
This announcement: “Whoever didn’t see this coming must has a log in their eye.”
The Wii U definitely seemed doomed from the start, especially when a gaming personality like Adam Sessler has to ask if the Wii U is a new console or just a new controller for the Wii.
As an adopter of the Wii U, I don’t regret my purchase one bit as it has a great library of games and I can use it to upscale my Wii library in HD.
I just couldn’t do it. The WiiU was too espensive, and I still had an Epic Mickey game to finish and a sequel to play. I won’t go Phoenix Wright on you for having a WiiU. I just wonder why… Mario RPG characters are only used once. Is that some sort of RPG curse?
I’m really not sure, but it may have something to do with the game being developed by Squaresoft. Maybe they have shared rights or something?
I’ve often wished that Nintendo would go the Sonic & All-Stars Racing route and add racers from all over the Nintendo universe and not just grab-assing at whatever Mario characters they can think of.
You can pick up a Wii U now for $200, which is a solid price. They have a decent indie/virtual store and it’s worth owning to play Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Pikmin 3 and The Wonderful 101 alone.
If Philips has a case, why wait for over two years? Were they waiting until the Wii U buying craze was over to make sure Nintendo had money? I guess they see Wii U sales stalled and this was the time to sue.
That was something I was questioning as well. Maybe they were trying to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, as they’ve been sending them correspondence for almost 3 years now. Or maybe you’re right and they just wanted to get as much out of Nintendo as possible.
like a typical patent troll, I’m guessing phillips waited until they actually needed money
You probably nailed it, yeah.
Wii U sales in the US are halted… no one notices any difference ๐
Nintendo seem to get into a lot of trouble when it comes to patents. I remember them getting sued regarding the Gamecube controller and also the 3D tech used on the 3DS.
“Wii U sales in the US are haltedโฆ no one notices any difference”
I see what you did there!