UltimatePointer figures that Nintendo, and everyone who sold Wii products, owes them some cash.
Nintendo is no stranger to being sued over supposedly infringing on existing patents, so it’s not too much of a surprise that another company is hoping to bring the videogame giant to court once again. There is a slight twist this time around, though; Texas-based UltimatePointer LLC is also taking aim at just about everyone who ever made a buck off the Wii.
The recently-filed -complaint states that Nintendo’s Wii Remote rips off UltimatePointer’s own patent for an “Easily Deployable Interactive Direct-Pointing System and Presentation Control System and Calibration Method Therefor,” which was filed way back in 2005.
However, UltimatePointer’s patent for the “Easily Deployable” thing-a-ma-bob didn’t receive official status until June 2010, several years after the Wii console hit the American Market. What really makes this lawsuit stand out from any other patent dispute, though, is that UltimatePointer isn’t setting its sights just on Nintendo.
The full list of defendants in the court filing found here shows that UltimatePointer is also taking on practically any retailer that has ever sold a Nintendo Wii or anything Wii-related, whether it was pre-owned or otherwise. Best Buy, Target, GameStop, Dell, and CompUSA are just a few of the companies being taken to court for patent infringement, as apparently selling Nintendo products makes them just as liable as Nintendo itself.
There’s no amount listed for the reward should UltimatePointer succeed in bringing all those into court (and actually manage to prove anything). Instead, in addition to all the other court and lawyer fees, its only asking for Nintendo to pay up a “reasonable royalty”.
Source: Joystiq
Image: Flickr
Published: Sep 28, 2011 03:24 pm