Is the 'Wiimote' a patent violator?

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BAMAToNE Dec 11, 2006

"Nintendo of America has been sued by Interlink Electronics over alleged patent infringement in its Wii console's remote control."

Interlink, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in remote controls and electronic-signature technology, filed suit in a federal district court in Delaware on December 4, claiming that Nintendo's Wii Remote violates its "Trigger Operated Electronic Device" patent (U.S. patent No. 6,850, 221). Interlink claimed that Nintendo's sale of the device, nicknamed the Wiimote, has caused the company to lose profits and royalties.
Nintendo's Wii console, which was released with much fanfare November 17, has gained both positive buzz and notoriety for the Wii Remote. The contoller enables players to physically interact with the game--swinging it like a bat in a baseball game or holding it like a gun in a shooting game, for example.
Until this point, much of the Wiimote controversy has revolved around its tendency to smash into things. But now that a lawsuit has been filed, problems for Nintendo may escalate far beyond the level of YouTube-documented mishaps.
Neither company was immediately available for comment.

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Ryu Dec 11, 2006

I'm really curious how this will develop. I guess Sony, what with its "Dual Shock" fiasco that Nintendo somehow alluded, is grinning some. This won't be the first time Nintendo's been in court. For what I recall, Miyamoto said that this control scheme was in the works years ago for a Mario game that never came about, so it is possible that Nintendo will have that in their favor, depending on if it was in the works prior to this patent.

POPOBOT5000 Dec 11, 2006

I saw the lawsuit coming a mile away--not for any specific reason, just because I expected someone to seize the opportunity to stake a claim at "new" technology. I don't really expect much to come of this; Nintendo generally has great legal defenses (I believe a former VP was a lawyer before joining Nintendo, even...?). The "Dual Shock" fiasco does prove that it's not impossible for them to lose, but I still doubt it.

I believe Nintendo alluded the "Dual Shock" fiasco because their rumble mechanism differed from that of the other console controllers. I could be wrong, though.

Stephen Dec 11, 2006

Nintendo apparently had a patent for its Rumble Pak, so they were not subject to the lawsuit. However, Immersion Corp., the company sued Sony and MS, probably would have gone after Nintendo if they didn't have a patent.

raynebc Dec 11, 2006

This is another case of abused patents where people want to take ownership of a very broad concept instead of an implementation. Hell, this device has nothing to do with motion detection, it's basically a pressure-activated wireless mouse. Those opportunistic bastards can just go out of business for all I care.

XLord007 Dec 11, 2006

POPOBOT5000 wrote:

(I believe a former VP was a lawyer before joining Nintendo, even...?).

Howard Lincoln was an attorney before becoming Nintendo of America's attorney. He eventually became #2 at NOA behind Arakawa as the subsidiary grew in size. He retired some years back.

Datschge Dec 12, 2006

raynebc wrote:

Hell, this device has nothing to do with motion detection, it's basically a pressure-activated wireless mouse.

Indeed, they could have sued Nintendo for Wavebird (wireless with lotsa triggers) as well with this inane premise.

SquareTex Dec 12, 2006

Shhhh!
Don't give 'em any ideas!

It all kinda reminds me of when MGM sued Nintendo back in the early 80s over Donkey Kong vs. King Kong. Any news whether Sid Sheinberg is involved?

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