Nintendo found infringing on two of Philips' patents, what comes next still unclear

Jun 23, 2014 13:00 GMT  ·  By

It looks like Nintendo's winning streak in the courts is coming to an end, as the Japanese corporation has now lost a major patent dispute with Philips.

The news comes via Bloomberg, informing that Judge Colin Birss has decided that "a Nintendo unit infringed two Philips patents in a ruling." There was an additional complaint, but Nintendo managed to get cleared of the third violation.

"The common general knowledge did not include a device combining a physical motion sensor with a camera and the reasons advanced by Nintendo for putting those two sensors together in one unit are unconvincing," Birss adds.

The suit outlines that Nintendo has several devices that are in violation of the first patent, the Wii, Wii Remote and controllers, the Nunchuk, Balance Board, Wii U GamePad, Wii Mini and Wii MotionPlus technology, while the Nintendo Wii U and GamePad have been identified as infringing upon the second patent.

"Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others," the company says in a statement.

Nintendo is currently facing some legal consequences, and for now insists that both patents filed by Philips are invalid, and intends to appeal the judge's decision. If the appeal fails, the company might even have to stop selling the Wii and the Wii U in the United Kingdom altogether, although it is highly unlikely that Philips would move for a ban.

The more probable outcome would be Philips getting a settlement deal, attempting to get some cash for the patents that it hasn't used yet, which would be especially appealing, considering the sheer amount of Wii consoles that Nintendo has moved over the years.

"We believe Nintendo infringed the patents and have tried to settle since 2011, but as that hasn't worked out we had to take this step. This case relates to other cases in the U.S., Germany and France. It might help in those cases, but that's not up to me but to the local authorities in those countries," Philips spokesperson Bjorn Teuwsen says.

A Texas-based company also accused Nintendo of infringing on their patents with the Wii Remotes, but the complaint was subsequently dismissed by a federal appeals court earlier this month, on account of Triton Tech LLC's patent being invalid for failing to adequately describe a complete invention.

"Nintendo is committed to ensuring that this judgment does not affect continued sales of its highly acclaimed line of video game hardware, software and accessories and will actively pursue all such legitimate steps as are necessary to avoid any interruptions to its business," the Japanese company commented.