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Nintendo Sued over Wiimote Trigger

Posted by Zonk on from the wiimote-to-the-head-ed-grubberman dept.

kaizokunami writes "A company named Interlink Electronics, Inc., creator of interface devices has filed a suit in US District court against Nintendo of America, claiming the Nintendo the trigger on the bottom of the Wii controller infringes on their patent. The article includes images submitted with the patent application." From the article: "The complaint alleges that the trigger on the bottom of the Wii controller infringes on Interlink Patent No. 6,850,221 (Trigger Operated Electronic Device), which the company secured on February 1, 2005. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata first presented the Wii controller to the public not too long after that date, during the 2005 Tokyo Game Show."

4 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. Um, prior art? by Southpaw018 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have a remote for a LCD projector that's a good 3 years old that looks almost exactly the same. I'd imagine there are plenty more examples out there. My guess is Interlink is simply banking on the damage they can do before their patent is invalidated.

    --
    ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
  2. Re:Um, prior art? from the 80s by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I remember using military weapons technology between 1982 and 1989 that had similar triggers.

    Sounds like someone trying to make a fast buck.

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    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  3. The patent says it's for a computer not a console by Xest · · Score: 3, Interesting

    No wait, hear me out, I'm not just being pedantic - didn't Sony recently lose a court case to have the PS3 classed as a computer? Surely if the courts draw a distinction between consoles and computers then they would also do so in the case of the patent such that the patent describes a device designed for a computer and not one designed for a console?

    Of course IANAL but would this kind of argument stick in court?

  4. Re:Okay... by LordKronos · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Dang it...I hate coming up with info late into a thread. I hope somebody ends up seeing this.

    If you want prior art, please pre-date 1995.

    OK, here you go. Patent 5724106 (issued to Gateway 2000). This may not be as early of an example as the all the other things people post, but so far I have to believe it is the most relevant, because

    1) It has a patent with an original filing date that predates the one in question (continuation of a patent filed Jul. 17, 1995)

    2) It is literally a remote control with a trigger

    http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5724106.html

    Also, check out the images on the
    USPTO website (or get them off that site...you can log in with bug-me-not or create a free account)