Interlink sues Nintendo over Wiimote
California-based Interlink, a company that
manufacturers remote controls and other devices for business presentations, is
suing Nintendo over an alleged patent violation involving the Wii’s
motion-sensitive remote control.
California-based Interlink, a company that manufacturers remote controls and other devices for business presentations, is suing Nintendo over an alleged patent violation involving the Wii’s motion-sensitive remote control. Interlink filed the complaint in the US District Court in Delaware (where their corporation is legally formed), claiming that their 2005 patent for a “Trigger Operated Electronic Device” was violated by the Wiimote.
The patent depicts an image of Interlink’s “Trigger Operated Electronic Device” which looks oddly like a Star Trek: The Next Generation phaser and comes with a couple of buttons on top and a small vertical IR sensor that sits next to a computer monitor. The legal filing does not disclose the exact nature of the infringement, but it does not appear as though the patent covers the kind of full motion sensitivity found in the Wiimote. Careful reading of the patent itself reveals that the pointer simply acts as a mouse replacement, with the user moving a pressure-sensitive pad around on the remote and the computer tracking this motion as mouse movement through the IR connection.
On the surface, the patent infringement claim sounds ludicrous, especially the claims that the “Plaintiff has suffered damages, including but not limited to, loss of reasonable royalties, reduced sales and/or lost profits as a result of infringing activities.” Hands up — who has cancelled their purchase of a business presentation pointer because they just bought a Wii game system. Anyone? Anyone? Still, the results of the Immersion lawsuit against Sony and others shows that video game companies can lose patent lawsuits against companies that do not manufacture video game systems (although Immersion at least makes components used by game manufacturers).
Obviously Nintendo cannot afford to lose the unique features of the Wii’s remote, as the motion sensing ability is the defining feature of the Wii console. Interlink may be banking on Nintendo’s vulnerability with their lawsuit.
Like most aficionados of invention and innovation, I sincerely hope Nintendo can weather this “extortion by lawyer”. The process of patent protection has devolved to little else.
Posted: Sat - December 9, 2006 at 01:57 PM