Nintendo "Leaving Inventor Out in the Cold"

Killman · Nintendo "Leaving Inventor Out in the Cold"

Earlier this year, Nintendo was ordered by a federal jury to pay $21 million to Anascape Ltd. for infringing on game controller-related patents.

This week, another company called Motiva has filed suit against Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo, claiming the motion-sensing Wii console has infringed on the patent "Human Movement Measurement System." The patent holders are suing for a preliminary and permanent injunction against alleged infringements, damages and attorney fees.

Already, some gamers have been shrieking "patent troll," insinuating Motiva is in the business of creating a vague patent and suing supposedly offending companies for large amounts of money.

But Motiva's attorneys tell Edge that's not the case at all, claiming that the small Ohio-based company is a legitimate business.

"Motiva is not a patent troll," said Chris Banys with Lanier Law Firm during a phone interview. "A 'patent troll' is sort of a loosely-defined term, but I would say the most common use of the term 'patent troll' is to describe a small inventor who invents something and sues a big company.

"Big companies don't like to be sued. They also don't like to pay small inventors when a small inventor actually has invented something."

He claimed the company is not just "sitting on" the patent.

Banys said that Motiva "worked hard" on the patent over the years and tried to market the product described. "They actually spent some of their time trying to interest people in trying to potentially buy a product from them."

He continued, "It's a very derogatory thing. For the person that is actually harmed to also be called a 'troll' simply because big business doesn't like it when they're called on their conduct, I think is despicable."

Motiva's patent describes an invention that would be primarily intended for exercise and rehabilitation as opposed to entertainment, although videogaming is mentioned as one possible application.

But the application of the patent isn't what counts in court, said the attorney. "While you see in the specifications and descriptions of exercise [in the patent]--by the way, Nintendo is marketing their product for exercise uses--the invention is certainly not limited only to exercise or rehabilitation.

"As long as you're making a product that performs all the elements of a claim in a patent, you're infringing a patent."

In Banys' view, Nintendo is trying to take advantage of the little guy.

"Big companies would rather go out there without doing the right thing. They'd rather not buy the license, make a lot of money, and leave the person that actually invented the thing out in the cold."

Nintendo is currently in the process of preparing a statement on the case, but did not have a response as of press time.

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto stated in a 2006 BusinessWeek interview that Nintendo began work on a new gaming interface in 2001, just after the launch of the GameCube. The designer said by "early 2004, early 2005," the controller's shape, nunchuck attachment, motion sensor, infrared pointer and button layout were already in place.

Motiva's patent was originally filed in July 2005. Nintendo Wii launched in November 2006.

"Nintendo I'm sure will have good lawyers who have interesting stories to tell of their own," Banys said. "Our guys are the owners of this patent. If you look at who owns the patent and who doesn't, Motiva owns this patent because Motiva invented this thing. The U.S. patent and trademark office says so."

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EpE

WoW nintendo is evil

but they use it for FUN stuff

Toasted Donut

Every corporation is evil at the core....

Killman

Well, they must be giving us a false image for them.

A kid friendly Nintendo is evil in secrecy.

Timer

I knew nintendo was evil from the start.

EpE

bob

sucks to be him