Nintendo finally hit with Wiimote lawsuit

C'mon, was there really any doubt about this one? We've seen everything from TVs to PDAs to windows to humans (and their scams) get jacked up thanks to Nintendo's Wiimote downright neglect, and without further ado, we present the first associated lawsuit. California-based Interlink, a company that manufacturers remote controls and other devices for business presentations, is hitting Nintendo up with a lawsuit claiming that the Wiimote violates its own "Trigger Operated Electronic Device" patent filed back in 2005. While the patent doesn't appear to focus on any kind of snazzy "full motion sensitivity" features like those enjoyed on the big N's controller, it does point out its uses as a pressure-sensitive mouse replacement, which really only relates to the Wiimote via a sweet hack job (or two). Nevertheless, the zany sounding suit may actually have more ground to stand on than we onlookers give it credit for, as we've already seen Sony's battle with Immersion head south. Sure, these filings are a dime a dozen these days, but if the signature piece of Nintendo's latest console gets tagged for royalties, who knows how much those classic title downloads could end up costing.

[Via ArsTechnica, thanks Connor]

[JRA219psu @ Dec 8th 2006 11:42PM]

I hope companies like these go out of business. This is getting ridiculous. Interlink: go burn in hell.

[Zorque @ Dec 8th 2006 11:43PM]

Pfft. Long before '05 I'd seen plenty of "trigger operated electronic devices". I've owned a PS2 remote since '04 with a trigger on it, myself.

[myscrnnm @ Dec 8th 2006 11:45PM]

Took them long enough.

[Gary T @ Dec 8th 2006 11:52PM]

Oh, wait... This ISN'T the strap class action? Ah, well, it's a start, I guess...

[Cowboy Bob @ Dec 8th 2006 11:55PM]

The U.S. patent system is horrible. People are writing up these patents that are so vague. A "Trigger Operated Electronic Device" can mean anything...its bull fecies! That can describe the original Nintendo light gun that came with duck hunt...

[elmergu @ Dec 9th 2006 12:32AM]

jajajaja you're right, I think that the patent system instead of helping is hurting, i think that this kind of lawsuits will prevent in the future to cool gadgets come to market

[rob @ Dec 9th 2006 12:06AM]

@Cowboy Bob
Uhh the entire patent isn't "Trigger Operated Electronic Device" Read the friggen link. The patent is very specific and 11 pages long along with 9 detailed images.

[tadghostal @ Dec 9th 2006 12:07AM]

See what happens when you live in a country with WAY too many lawyers? C'mon! Our government is based on the Roman Empire's, so let's go one step further....

I call for Attorney Decimation. Imagine a USA with 1/10th the lawyers it now has. Sure, we'd still have 50,000,000,000 times the number of attorneys per capita than all other countries combined, but MAN! I can almost SMELL the freedom!

LOL. And what was it the pilgrims were fleeing from again?

[undersaur @ Dec 9th 2006 2:21AM]

Decimation means killing every 10th man, not 9/10.

[Sean @ Dec 9th 2006 12:35AM]

I think Nintendo can kill this suit by presenting the court with a piece of Nintendo technology from years past... the NES IR Gun for Duck Hunt and Hogan's Ally. Its a trigger-based electronic device.

[leon @ Dec 9th 2006 12:40AM]

I'm really starting to hate corporate America now. Greedy, lazy assholes. I really hope companies that try to pull this shit go out of buisness. For the record, I'm not pissed just because it's Nintendo, it pissed me off when they did this shit to Sony and AMD.

[Brian @ Dec 9th 2006 12:53AM]

hey, you finally woke up? lol

[ainmneacha @ Dec 9th 2006 12:57AM]

Quantel Paintboxes have used an off-hand, trigger & buttons, remote-like device for god knows how long. A decade-old version of the device in my office looks a good deal like the Nintendo controller.

http://www.quantel.com/site/en.nsf/html/paintbox_home

[Brian @ Dec 9th 2006 1:07AM]

Here's a product page of their "Trigger Operated Electronic Device(s)"
http://www.interlinkbrand.com/index.php?id=Mzky

I don't see why they have to get all patent crazy; the Wii-mote is made for a gaming console: a fun, entertaining device (like the stereotypical Mac), and the "Interlink RemotePoint" is made for the PC: fun... entertaining... presentations *zzzzz* (like the stereotypical PC).

[daniel s. @ Dec 9th 2006 1:11AM]

Interlink doesn't even have a point!!!! The trigger info in their controls is transmitted through infrared. The Wiimote doesn't even use infrared to transmit information! The triggers info is transmitted through Bluetooth.

[Qweltol @ Dec 9th 2006 1:37AM]

We have one of those Interlink Remotepoint RF remotes in our conference room. One word comes to mind: kuh-lunk-y.

[Max @ Dec 9th 2006 1:58AM]

didnt the NES gun have a trigger? im surpirsed patents this open ended can be patented

[tadghostal @ Dec 9th 2006 12:41PM]

Yeah, sorry. I meant to say 1/10th LESS lawyers.

[Tavis Veighey @ Dec 9th 2006 2:43AM]

What about the GyroMouse from http://www.gyration.com? It fits that bill as well!
(They GryoMouse has been a hackers toy, turning the old NES PowerGlove into a PC gaming device!)

As well as many other devices from many other companies. So either lawsuits need to be made on allof them as well... OR this company needs to be told to go SMURF themselves!

[xVariable @ Dec 9th 2006 3:21AM]

tadghostal said: "See what happens when you live in a country with WAY too many lawyers? C'mon! Our government is based on the Roman Empire's, so let's go one step further...."

Modern civilization and Roman civilization are based on Greek civilization, dumbass. Get your facts straight...

[Mike @ Dec 9th 2006 6:33AM]

Greek civilization is based on Homo sapiens idaltu civilization, which is based on Homo georgicus civilization, which is based on Homo cepranensis civilization, which is based on......which is based on mono cellular bacteria civilization (or Adam and Eve, depending on your beliefs), dumbass. Get your facts straight...

...riiiiight, that's what I thought....
:P

[Gh0sTly @ Dec 9th 2006 3:23AM]

I agree with daniel s. on this, as the technology in the WiiMote differs from what InternLink's "mouse with a trigger." IF this lawsuit goes through, I can see MANY other companys getting hit with this.

ALSO, what about the Z-trigger on the N64 remote, anyone think of that being pattented to Nintendo? IMO, the trigger on the WiiMote is the same as that.

[kitt2112 @ Dec 9th 2006 3:55AM]

Im going to take the role of a fanboy. the shoes on the other foot now SUCKERS!! lol what did nintendo think that they could steel someone else's tech. and get away with it? i tell u one thing there going to have to settle if they don't win. a wii without a wiimote is just another gamecube. HAHAH!


ok now all you N fanboys can have fun and give this post a negative. lol

[Tech^Cellfish @ Dec 9th 2006 4:20AM]

All those who want to do something about the patent system. Check out the Pirate Party in your country

I don't think this lawsuit will hurt Nintendo very much.

[William @ Dec 9th 2006 5:36AM]

The N64 Controller had a trigger

[Gary T @ Dec 9th 2006 12:28PM]

Mike said: "Greek civilization is based on Homo sapiens idaltu civilization, which is based on Homo georgicus civilization, which is based on Homo cepranensis civilization, which is based on......which is based on mono cellular bacteria civilization (or Adam and Eve, depending on your beliefs), dumbass. Get your facts straight...

...riiiiight, that's what I thought....
:P"

Wrong, ass. Roman and modern Western civilization are widely considered among academics to be offshoots of Greek civilization. Modern civilization is NOT an offshoot of, nor is it modeled on, Roman civilization merely because the latter came after the former.

THAT was the point which you totally skipped over...

[Stephen @ Dec 9th 2006 7:09AM]

This is getting ridiculous. Patents were meant to protect individuals/companies from others that want to profit off of all the time and money the company spends on R&D. Although it may or may not be the case in this instance, it's sad to see it being taken advantage of by companies that just want to make a quick buck. Nintendo has obviously spent a lot of money developing this product.

[Mike Prasad @ Dec 9th 2006 8:30AM]

NINTENDO, HERE'S SOME IDEAS:

I'm not a patent attorney, but I do have some experience with patents. A notable, and key element of the patent is that "a LED device for emitting an infra-red output signal for transmission to the receiver for operating the computer", However, as I understand it, the Wiimote communicates via bluetooth and uses the IR purely for reference, but NOT for communication with the Wii.

Further the patent seems to imply that the pointing controls and mouse movement are controlled by buttons, not actual physical movement, and that the trigger mechanism is purely used for selecting or clicking. This is another key difference.

The only true similarity seems to be the physical trigger button, which is also present on many other devices, such as the Xbox and Playstation controllers, and various other gaming peripherals (Remember the Super Scope?).

Since the patent was issued to a device containing a trigger element, and its not a patent ON ALL trigger elements.

Lastly, this is a utility patent under class 345/158 (Including orientation sensor e.g., infrared, ultrasonic, remotely controlled) & 345/157 (Cursor mark position control device).

"A utility patent applies to the way something is made, how a device operates, or a process for accomplishing some utilitarian purpose."

An strong argument can be made that the patent and mechanisms describe NO REASONABLE PROCESS OR OPERATION for accomplishing the functions defined in its patent class. It does NOT provide a means to control a cursor mark position. And Nintendo's Wiimote does in a wholly different manner, using gyros and other methods.

These may be key differences that could be used to circumvent (and possibly invalidate) the patent.

There's no reason to settle or pay up to something that has no real claim. Especially when the patent in question was never intended to operate in the manner that the Wiimote does.

So yeah, That's my 15 minute analysis.

[Jasen @ Dec 10th 2006 8:04PM]

Nice armchair analysis. I agree that N would likely win the case based on what you showed. Unfortunately, the question isn't whether N would win if it goes to court, but whether the cost to go to court is less than the cost to just throw some money at these bozos to make them go away.

- Jasen.

[Aroon Saini @ Dec 9th 2006 1:42PM]

lol my Physics teacher has one of those wireless mouse thingies, looks like the exact same one in the patent. its pretty neat.

[cloud811 @ Dec 9th 2006 2:16PM]

i say we blow up interlink? ....You don't think they'll win....right? RIGHT?!! WERE ROUTING FOR YOU NINTENDO!!

[Dan @ Dec 9th 2006 2:22PM]

Another lawsuit. Here's why our country does not crack down on this stuff. Half of congress I'm betting has a degree in law. Whoever, is filing lawsuits, LAWYERS WIN ALLWAYS!

[Dickson @ Dec 9th 2006 6:47PM]

You could even say the shoulder buttons on the SNES were triggers to a degree. Lawsuits like this are based on one thing. It ain't that another comany is making money off of their idea and therefore costing them money, it's that a company is using something that works vaguely similar to one of their products, and because they see opportunity to rob this company of some fairly earned cash, they're going in with teeth bared. You could expect this to last a very short time before the judge throws the hammer at the lawyer representing Interlink for wasting time and money.

There's my ten cents, seeing as my country doesn't even have 5 cent pieces anymore.

[Diddle @ Dec 9th 2006 10:05PM]

I can think of another "Trigger Operated Electronic Device(s)", it's called a Nintendo Zapper, circa 1986.

NOBODY F*CKING CARES, YOUR LAWSUIT WILL RUIN THE ENJOYMENT FOR ALL!

I think I'm gonna go patent something crazy and stupid so in 20 years I can sue someone for creating something I thought of. :p

[Wii Lawsuit @ Dec 15th 2006 10:46AM]

Very timely post! My crystal ball still works after all these years :P I posted on the Wii Lawsuit early last week. Let me know what you think!