Nintendo, Sony sued for alleged patent infringement

by James Ransom-Wiley on Jan 11th 2008 1:15PM

A Pennsylvania company has filed suit against Nintendo and Sony for allegedly violating its patent held for a "hand held computer input apparatus and method." The Wiimote, Nunchuk, Sixaxis, and PS3 Blu-ray remote were all named in the lawsuit filed last month in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Copper Innovations Group claims that these devices infringe on its 1996 patent for a method of sorting devices connected to a system by number identification.

Copper is after a cut of Wii's lucrative profits and PS3's (once there are some), seeking payment for damages, with interest, and legal fees. Copper is also calling for a permanent injunction that would prohibit Nintendo, Sony and 3rd-party manufacturers from further infringing on the patent.

Source

Tags: blu-ray-remote, lawsuit, legal, nunchuk, patent, PS3, sixaxis, Wii, wiimote

Reader Comments (102)

I hate patent trolls...

I'm off to patent common sense, just try and use it, I'll sue your ass into the ground!

Oh, and I'll only pick hugely successful companies, of course. More money for me.

I have the feeling that, for the most part, you'll have that "common sense" all to your self.

yea patent trolls are the absolute worst. just out to make a quick buck at someone elses expense. i think patents are too vague anyway.

"hand held computer input apparatus and method"

couldnt that be just about any remote control? no one person or group should have this much power over such a vague idea.

I hate patent trolls...

apparatus=portal. i like cake.

Comment system FTL?

Whatever it is they patented looks more like a dildo, honestly.

Guess who is next in the "Sue" list?

stop double posting

Irony is a cruel lady.

"Irony is a cruel lady."

it would be if i haden't done it on purpose

lol

seriously though, i dont get how you can do that without trying to

It's a case of the false idea of "clicking it makes it go faster." When you press the submit button, the reply is sent over the internet tubes to the sever. Sometimes the server is a bit slow loading up the next page so the reply button is left on screen. Pressing it again sends the post again so it's posted twice. Also, data requests are rarely lost, but sometimes it might take time to process, so the data gets put in a queue until the server it ready for it. The user see that the page hasn't updated straight away so mashes the reply button.

It happens to all of us sooner or later so don't get cocky.

Actually, a couple days ago I definitely only pressed the button once, the next screen failed to load so I just restarted firefox. And there it was, two posts! Curse you intraweb!

That's how its been happening to me. If i'm on Internet Explorer, it will go to "Cannot Find Server" after i click once, i hit refresh and two comments are there. If i'm on Firefox, i get a blank white screen, hit refresh and get the same thing

Profile 0 or as I call him MissingNo. is cruel and has stolen my comments.

I also laugh at the patent troll.

I always find it interesting that people wait for years before filing these lawsuits just so they can get the profit... I mean, really, the reason behind a patent is to protect a method, not to be a lottery entry for a lawsuit down the road.

Anyone can think of an idea, but it takes a lot of money and man-power to make it happen. This guy couldn't have done it if his life depended on it. For a start, he doesn't have a fan-base like Sony and Nintendo have had for many years. Ugh, just such a silly case. I hope the judge laughs at him.

*sigh* ... another ridiculous lawsuit.

Hopefully the recent US supreme court rulings on patents will lead to the court quickly throwing this patent out the door as something obvious which shouldn't have been granted a patent in the first place.

That patent image looks more like a mouse than a wand.

More like those ol' barely functional wireless mousses (mice?). I had one and it barely worked, it was annoying and looked sort of like a wii-mote except it didn’t work when you point it to the screen oh no, you had to use a damn trackball which is no good when you are using Windows 95.

It needed lot’s of batteries to work which didn’t last enough, at the end I throw it away. It looked cool tho’.

Can you patent having a button on a remote???

definite troll. I doubt any wireless mouse manufacturer licensed this patent and he hasn't sued them. Also, he has given up his right to sue Nintendo because he didn't sue when Wavebird came out

I'm surprised they didn't file in Texas!

That's because we have a little-known clause here in TX that states that the losing party in a frivolous lawsuit gets the chair.

Those other boneheads making news lately are soooooo screwed.

LoL I don't remember where I saw it on TV, but I remember someone saying they solved their planet's lawyer problem by having them face the same punishment/fees as the losing party.

FOX -

That would be Justice League. The episode where Green Lantern was fooled into thinking he blew up a planet and The Flash (poorly) defended him.

(nerd moment over)

Bash lawyers all you want, but when you need us - there we are to bail you out of trouble.

Jeff Bell asks Copper Innovations Group, "And your contribution to society is...what?"

the ps3 remote isn't motion sensing...and by their definition "hand held computer input apparatus and method", the PS3 is the only one that might qualify (depending on definition of "computer")--and if they're talking about the PS3 remote, then why not ALL tv remotes?? lame. stupid lawyers/politicians at work.

Didn't 'Read The Fucking Article' enough? It's not about motion sensing, it's about a numeric sorting system to organize multiple controllers.

If he held a patent, and it's being infringed upon by techniques used by these companies, I think he should win a fair settlement. Not one comment here even mentions the possibility that the companies MIGHT be ass-raping the little guy. Way to bludgeon the notion of the inventor and support the corporation, guys... Go Halliburton!

Good god, ill. He's a patent troll. Do you know what he patented (or rather, the part of the patent he's suing over)? I goddamn number "1" "2" "3" or "4" denoting which controller is which player.

Thats common sense, and/or obvious. He has NO chance of winning, because you can't patent something thats obvious.

No mention of Microsoft ? I guess they are scared of the legions of lawyers they have.

I guess they forgot that Nintendo and Sony employ lawyers that are just as vicious.

I can remember a few instances akin to tossing a baby into a pen full of starving pit bulls.

For once Nintendo and Sony can come together on something. Well, at least their team of lawyers can. I am also going to assume that they have extensive Ninja training.

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Nintendo, Sony sued for alleged patent infringement

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