Nintendo and Sony Sued For Controller Patent Violation

A Pennsylvania company called Copper Innovations Group has filed a suit in United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against both Nintendo and Sony, alleging that the companies' control devices infringe on a patent. According to consumer news outlet GameSpot, Copper Innovations filed a patent in January of 1996 for a "Hand Held Computer Input Apparatus and Method," a method by which hardware identification numbers are assigned to device transmissions as a means of organizing their inputs and connecting them to a system. The suit names Nintendo's Wii Remote and Nunchuk and Sony's Sixaxis controller and Blu-ray remote as the products that infringe on the company's patent, and seeks damages, interest, legal fees and a permanent injunction against both Sony and Nintendo to prevent them from manufacturing or profiting from the technology. Video game companies' hardware has been challenged by patent litigation in the past, most notably in the long legal battle between touch-feedback tech developer Immersion and Sony regarding rumble for the DualShock, in which Sony settled with the company for more than $86 million. Microsoft also settled with Immersion for $26 million for the rights to certain haptic technologies.