Posts Tagged: "Nintendo"

(Not) Copyright Infringement: Is dbrand Infringing Nintendo’s IP?

Is imitation really the highest form of flattery? Nintendo might not think so after seeing dbrand’s latest Switch skin set. The Nintendo Switch has become extremely popular amidst social distancing, work from home, and stay at home requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The console’s combination of handheld and traditional features, along with its wide variety of games, appeals to a large audience and provides an engaging way to spend time at home.

Nintendo Dodges $10.1 Million Jury Verdict in Texas Order Invalidating iLife Patent Under Alice

The U.S. District court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, overturned a $10.1 million jury verdict on January 17 against Japanese gaming giant Nintendo under the Supreme Court’s Alice test, which the High Court recently declined to clarify amidst confusion. In August of 2017, a Texas jury entered a verdict against Nintendo, finding that the company had infringed upon a patent asserted by Texas-based medical tech firm iLife Technologies Inc. The jury agreed that iLife proved that it was owed $10.1 million in a lump sum royalty for the sales of a series of games for Nintendo’s Wii U console. The jury also found that Nintendo didn’t prove invalidity of the asserted patent. In its analysis overturning the jury verdict, the district court reasoned that “[a]t its core, Claim 1 is directed to the abstract idea of ‘gathering, processing and transmitting…information.’”

Federal Circuit Remands PTAB Decision to Uphold Patent Claims Challenged By Nintendo

While the recent decision did uphold the PTAB’s finding of validity of some claims, the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded part of the decision in a way that further highlights the revolving door of validity challenges taking place between the Federal Circuit and the PTAB… The recent Federal Circuit decision on Nintendo’s appeal of the ‘796 final written decision issued by the PTAB found that substantial evidence supports the PTAB’s determination that the challenged claims of the ‘796 patent were adequately supported by the written description of the grandparent application. However, the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded because the panel did not believe all of the challenged claims were reduced to practice as the result of the 1998 working prototype. The existence of a reduction to practice associated with the 1998 working prototype is important because if all of the claims has been reduced to practice with the 1998 working prototype Yasushi would not be prior art.

Nintendo to appeal $10.1M jury verdict of infringement after invalidating 5 of 6 iLife patents at PTAB

A jury verdict recently entered into a patent infringement case in the Northern District of Texas found that Japanese gaming giant Nintendo infringed upon a patent asserted by Texas-based medical tech firm iLife Technologies Inc. In the verdict, the jury agreed that iLife proved that it was owed $10.1 million in a lump sum royalty for the sales of a series of games for the Wii U console. The jury also found that Nintendo didn’t prove invalidity of the asserted patent. The jury found that sales of Nintendo’s Wii U games including Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Club Sports and Mario Kart 8, infringed upon claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 6864796.

Nintendo Switch gaming console is at center of patent infringement suit filed by Gamevice

Gamevice is asserting a single patent in this case: U.S. Patent No. 9126119, titled Combination Computing Device and Game Controller with Flexible Bridge Section. Issued in September 2015, it claims a combination device having a computing device with sides disposed between an electronic display screen and the device’s back, a communication port interacting with the computing device and having a pair of structures confining the computing device, an input device in communication with the communication port and having a pair of control modules providing input module apertures securing an instructional input device.