Nintendo has announced that a federal court in Dallas, TX has overturned a $10.1 million patent lawsuit from back in 2017 regarding the Wii Remote controller.
Nintendo was sued by iLife Technologies way back in 2013. They asserted Nintendo had used their patented motion controller technology for the Wii. ILife Technologies had tried to assert six patents, but five of them were found invalid in 2016. The last one led to the lawsuit. A jury found it credible in 2017, awarding iLife with $10.1 million from Nintendo.
Nintendo appealed, and the recent new ruling by the federal court asserted that the final patent was not valid: “iLife Technologies Inc was impermissibly trying to cover the broad concept of using motion sensors to detect motion.”
Ajay Singh, Nintendo’s Deputy General Counsel, did not mince words after winning the lengthy court battle: “Nintendo has a long history of developing new and unique products, and we are pleased that, after many years of litigation, the court agreed with Nintendo. We will continue to vigorously defend our products against companies seeking to profit off of technology they did not invent.”
The Nintendo Wii is one of the best-selling consoles of all time, selling over 100 million units and helping pioneer and popularize motion controllers.
