Dutch electronics giant Philips prevailed against Nintendo in UK court, in one of several patent cases it has filed -- but the Japanese console manufacturer isn't taking the loss.
This past Friday it emerged that Nintendo lost a patent lawsuit against Dutch electronics giant Philips in the UK -- one of four countries where the company has sued Nintendo for patent infringement. The patents concerned govern motion control technologies; the two companies had been negotiating about them since 2011. Nintendo isn't taking the loss lying down, however, and plans to appeal the verdict. Nintendo of America has provided this statement from Nintendo of Europe regarding the case to Gamasutra:
On 20 June 2014, following a trial heard before Mr Justice Birss, the UK Patents Court found that the Wii, Wii U and Wii Remote infringe two patents (‘498 and ‘650) asserted against Nintendo by Philips Electronics. The ‘498 and ‘650 patents were held to be invalid as originally granted, but Philips Electronics were permitted to make validating amendments during the course of the litigation. A further patent (‘484) was asserted by Philips Electronics but was found to be invalid. Nintendo firmly believes that the amended ‘498 and ‘650 patents are invalid and intends to seek permission to appeal Mr Justice Birss’ judgment. Philips Electronics has yet to make clear whether it intends to seek permission to appeal any part of the judgment. Nintendo is committed to ensuring that this judgment does not affect continued sales of its highly acclaimed line of video game hardware, software and accessories and will actively pursue all such legitimate steps as are necessary to avoid any interruptions to its business. Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others.
Nintendo has prevailed in several patent lawsuits in recent years, most recently in May and also earlier this month.
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