The federal court has deemed that the case filed against Nintendo for the use of patented technology not owned by them is invalid, meaning Nintendo will not have to pay $10.1 million in damages, despite a previous jury ruling that they would, according to a Nintendo PR release.
The case was originally brought against Nintendo in 2013 by tech company iLife Technologies, which claimed Nintendo infringed upon six patents it owned in relation to motion-sensing technology that was originally used in medical equipment. iLife claimed that the Wii Remote, the primary controller for the Nintendo Wii, infringed upon the patent, and the company was seeking damages based on the number of Wii consoles sold.
A Dallas jury ruled against Nintendo in 2017 and ordered it to pay damages, and then dismissed the subsequent appeal.
But on Jan. 17, the federal court in Dallas overturned the ruling, claiming that this patent was also invalid. It was deemed that “iLife Technologies Inc. was impermissibly trying to cover the broad concept of using motion sensors to detect motion,” according to Nintendo, and the case was dismissed.
“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,” said Ajay Singh, Nintendo of America’s deputy general counsel, in a statement. “We will continue to vigorously defend our products against companies seeking to profit off of technology they did not invent.”
