Patent Infringement Complaint Filed Against Nintendo Over Wiimote

The makers of a little-known remote control is suing Nintendo over its Wii console, which plaintiff ThinkOptical believes is infringing one or more of its patents. ThinkOptical, who created Wavit Remote, also included in its complaint other retailers and manufacturers such as WalMart, GameStop, RadioShack, Nyko Technologies, and JC Penney.

The patent in question is U.S. Patent Number 7,796,116, with the title “Electronic equipment for handheld vision based absolute pointing system.” ThinkOptic claims that Nintendo had previous knowledge that the Wii would infringe, which is based on the Patent Trademark Office’s rejection of certain patent claims that Nintendo has filed. Apart from the “‘116 patent,” ThinkOptic also included two other patents in the case, namely “Handheld device for handheld vision based absolute pointing system” (7,852,317) and “Handheld vision based absolute pointing system” (7,864,159). Both patents, along with the ‘116 patent, are the basis for the Wavit Remote.

And just when you thought this little-known company has had enough, ThinkOptic even included yet-to-be-available Wii U console in its complaint, alleging even that is infringing on their patents. ThinkOptic is asking the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas for an injunction against products in its complaint, as well as royalties, attorney’s fees, and damages for lost profits. According to people who are in the know about patent infringement cases, this particular court circuit has a tendency to favor the patent holder over all else. If ThinkOptic gets what it wants from the courts, it even might file a complaint against Sony for its PlayStation Move.

We can easily say that ThinkOptic is being nothing but a “patent troll,” but this complaint seems to be quite legit. Let’s hope this will all end for the better.

Source: Law 360, via TechCrunch

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