Nintendo Wins Controller Patent Appeal

The U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned a 2008 ruling by a Texas District Court that required Nintendo to pay TX-based Anascape $21 million for allegedly infringing on video game controller patents. Nintendo said that the Court of Appeals found that none of Nintendo’s video game controllers infringe on Anascape's patent 6,906,700, "3D Controller With Vibration." Anascape filed a suit in 2006 against Nintendo and Microsoft over alleged infringement of 12 game hardware and controller-related patents. "In 2008, the jury determined that the Wii Remote and Nunchuk did not infringe," said Nintendo of America general counsel Rick Flamm. However, that jury found that the Wii's classic controller, the GameCube controller and wireless GameCube WaveBird (pictured) did infringe on the patent, leading to the original ruling. "Today the Federal Circuit’s ruling confirmed that none of Nintendo’s controllers infringe," Flamm added. "We appreciate that our position has been vindicated." A Texas court ruled in 2008 that Nintendo infringed on Anascape's patent, and was ordered to pay $21 million for the violation and stop using the technology. Nintendo soon appealed the ruling, but a Texas court originally denied the appeal. Microsoft settled its case with Anascape in May 2008.