Nintendo ordered to pay $21 million to patent troll

Remember Anascape Ltd, the little "gaming company" that sued Microsoft and Nintendo back in 2006 for controller patent infringement? Well, it's payday to the tune of $21 million after a jury found Nintendo's Wii Classic, WaveBird, and Gamecube controller designs all guilty of violating Anascape's patents. Nintendo will appeal naturally while Microsoft settled the case before the matter ever went to trial. Now go ahead and Google Anascape with the challenge of finding a single service or product offering. Oh, did we mention that they are based in the patent-lawsuit friendly state of Tejas? Patent Trolls? Oh, you betcha.

Anascape... there is none.

[Kevin @ May 15th 2008 6:08AM]

tejas?

but i'm interested to see where this whole lawsuit will head.
whatever happened with the midway lawsuit?

[Ray @ May 15th 2008 1:25PM]

We should pull a switcheroo and get Jack Thompson to sue them in Texas for infringing on his patented concept of being an asshole.

[Ray @ May 15th 2008 1:26PM]

By which I mean, sue Anascape, not Nintendo. Durr.

[boredtoday @ May 15th 2008 6:08AM]

Where is Tejas?

[gad get @ May 15th 2008 6:21AM]

I believe it's somewhere near Texas.

[gad get @ May 15th 2008 6:25AM]

If I'm not mistaken, for Spanish speakers, 'Tejas' and 'Texas' would both be pronounced the same, as the 'j' and the 'x' both make the 'h' sound in Spanish.

[gad get @ May 15th 2008 6:27AM]

But I think the 'x' spelling is archaic; i.e., it's no longer used in Spanish.

[Acaeris @ May 15th 2008 6:35AM]

If I remember rightly, 'j' is similar to 'h' but 'x' is more like 'ch'. I used to live near Valencia where the towns have names like Xiva (Chiva), Xeste (Cheste, where the Valencia MotoGP track is) and Vilamarxant (Vilamarchante). (Bits in brackets are the modern spelling, some signs still use the old spelling).

[Zencyde @ May 15th 2008 7:38AM]

Tejas is a Native American (not sure which dialect) word for "friend". The information is difficult to find; but, Texas requires all students to take a course on Texas history in middle school. This information is covered during that course.

Also, I can't help but be a little annoyed by the stereotyping that Engadget just threw at us. It's pretty common knowledge on Slashdot that the patent lawsuits are all filed in a certain county. Which one? I'm not sure. It's a small county that seems to exist only for this purpose. The population is quite low from what I remember.

[m-p{3} @ May 15th 2008 7:55AM]

On my keyboard, Tejas is closer to Tehas and Tekas

[Luisen @ May 15th 2008 8:16AM]

In Spanish there are some exceptions with "x". While in most of the words this letter is pronounced as "ch" as Acaeris states, there are some words that is pronounced as "j" ("h" sound in English), such as: Mexico (pronounced as Méjico /SP/ or Mehico /EN/) and Texas (pronounced as Tejas /SP/ or Tehas /EN/)

:)

[Jimbo @ May 15th 2008 8:50AM]

Zencyde, it's the US District court in Marshall Texas where these cases are all filed. The judge is corrupt to the core. his son is making millions. why? because if you hire him as your lawyer, even if he does nothing, his judge has a conflict of interest and can't hear your case. If you let this judge hear your case, you get IMPOSSIBLY short discovery periods, where Nintendo would have to produce every document relating to its controllers in a couple of weeks. The judge is abusive to major companies, and patent trolls treat his family to buckets of cash.

As your congressman why he hasn't been impeached.

[couchpundit @ May 15th 2008 12:12PM]

The patent trolls like the federal judge there. Read all about it here:

http://www.technologyreview.com/InfoTech-Software/wtr_16280,300,p1.html?PM=GO

[Zencyde @ May 15th 2008 12:48PM]

I really should bug my congressman on this one. It seems to be the only good way to get things done. : /

[DJZeratul @ May 15th 2008 5:01PM]

are there really this many serious posts about this? what the hell is going on with engadget today! rofl!

[Alex @ May 15th 2008 6:22AM]

This is another one of those junk lawsuits that really hurts industry and innovation. Here is the troll that is actually behind the suit. http://www.altitudecp.com/index.html Enjoy :-p

[James Bowe @ May 15th 2008 8:52AM]

What makes a troll a troll? If dude came up with a good idea and tried to sell it to Nintendo, and they say 'no', then go ahead and use the idea. Is he still a troll? Does innovation have to come from the major corporations of the world? Can not an individual or small company develop a patent and try to sell it? We're going to call this trolling? Why, because we lack the creativity to beat anyone to original ideas ourselves?

[slarity @ May 15th 2008 9:48AM]

Wow James you actually have a good point. This person/small company could have created a great idea for a gaming console, as they obviously did, but they didnt have the resources (read: money) to develop a game console to use their great idea.

[Alex @ May 15th 2008 5:34PM]

Okay, obviously you have visited the site I linked to or read anything about this case at all. The company holds patents on a box with buttons that you can touch, and an analog controller that you can push with your fingers.
That is a really broad patent, it doesn't cover anything real, the company has never produced an actual product. They have no annual budget and they offer no services, nor have they ever attempted to materialize their patented designs, as vague as they are. They don't even have a webpage. The company that is funding them, specializes in the protection of intellectual property. They are the epitomy of a patent troll. They fund the entire lawsuit and take most of the money won.

The point being that they are a blight on the entertainment industry, and though it has no real impact on nintendo this time, we should all remember the death and ressurection of dual shock. They have no right to what they are suing for and such bogus lawsuits should be banned.

[Oinquer @ May 15th 2008 9:35AM]

im sorry to disagree but if they stole the inventions already patented they have to pay...and PAY ALOT!

[Shyam D @ May 15th 2008 9:48AM]

Patents don't have to be inventions.
In this case it is merely an idea for some type of controller that vibrates. That is basically what the patent says.
It is equivelant to patenting the idea of some type of container for food and then suing Glad and every china maker.

[andy @ May 15th 2008 10:20AM]

Shyam, read the claims. They particularly point out what the applicant regards as the invention. The accused device must have each and every element of a claim to infringe the claim.

Hint: The claim requires more than "Claim 1. A vibrating controller."

[Sudo @ May 15th 2008 6:40AM]

yay for ill-tempered business men.

[John @ May 15th 2008 6:50AM]

"that" not "which"

[lance @ May 15th 2008 6:52AM]

yeah, cuz Microsoft has never hurt industry or innovation with it's tactics, ever!
(mmmm...can you tast the bitterness?)

[Tim Brown @ May 15th 2008 6:53AM]

Their company name sounds more like Anal Scope, which I think would be more appropriate for a company of patent trolls.

[Nikonov @ May 15th 2008 7:05AM]

I hope they choke on it.

[Anthony @ May 15th 2008 10:44AM]

My goal is to some day choke on 21 million dollars. Dare to dream.

[loci @ May 15th 2008 7:15AM]

Hilarious replies...like any of you lot would give up the chance of $21 million.

"No, no, tho i thought of the design and patented it, im all for innovation.
Tho im poor, you can keep your dirty millions"

Buffoon's

[Ignatius @ May 15th 2008 7:30AM]

It isn't so much the idea of someone suing to keep their intellectual property safe as much as it is about a company that is trying to ride coattails of another for profits.

All the while, their precious patent remains sitting in a dusty cabinet somewhere, unused. Just like the NiMH battery patents that Chevron owns! ;D

[puhsitch @ May 15th 2008 8:25AM]

You're totally right. You really can't blame anyone for trying to make an easy $21mil on something that doesn't involve hurting children or puppies. Not a single one of us would pass that up if given the opportunity.

It's the courts who should take the blame in letting something like this actually pass through. They're supposed to be the checks and balances.

[friendlyner @ May 15th 2008 9:12AM]

Buffoon is what? Or, Buffoon owns what? Because that's what an apostrophe would mean.

[nh @ May 15th 2008 7:27AM]

Patents were originally granted to reward innovation (or rather importing ideas from other countries) by allowing you to a certain period to make a profit from your discovery.

Buying patents with no intention to ever produce anything is not in the spirit of things, especially in a country where patents are granted for extremely vague and/or obvious ideas.

[andy @ May 15th 2008 10:05AM]

To all of the armchair patent attorneys out there:


If these patents were of such disdainful merit:

1. Why did microsoft take a license?

2. Why didn't Nintendo just provide the court with the invalidating prior art?

3. Why did 13 people (judge included for JNOV purposes) find the patents valid and infringed?



Or are you guys just spewing propaganda on a topic of which you have no knowledge at all?



By the way, the purpose behind issuing patents is not to "reward innovation". It is to promote disclosure to the public in order to advance the useful arts. The US founding fathers (and the EPO creators) were much smarter than you know-it-alls.


And by using the term "patent troll", you're just another mouthpiece for Cisco and IBM, those same "multi-national corporations" that you hypocrites probably claim to oppose.

[Vidikron (FU) @ May 15th 2008 11:05AM]

Haha... Andy's a patent troll.

[andy @ May 15th 2008 11:21AM]

Vidikron:

Actually, I'm one of the big bad corporate IP attorneys for companies like MS, Tyco, Boeing, etc.

However, my favorite work is for small companies and individual inventors who are trying to get "make or break" patents, or trying to enforce those patents that we've gotten for them.

That's why this "troll" stuff bugs me. It's just propaganda (like patent troll tracker, aka Cisco's chief IP counsel) to try and weaken the patent system so that companies like MS and Nintendo can get buy without paying any royalities to patentees. Think about it. If this "investment firm" hadn't spend (on average) 10mil of their own money to litigate this, then Nintendo would have successfully taken someone's work and investment and not paid them for it. Now if the patent system is weakened to the point where Nintendo knows they won't get an injunction against them (already happened in Ebay v. Mercantile Exchange) and they know that treble (triple) damages for willful infringement are unlikely (see Seagate), then why not just steal other people's ideas? No one is going to risk losing 10mil dollars only to get that same 10mil back, and individuals can't afford to do it anyway. If you can't enforce patents, why get them. If you can't protect your ideas, why work on them or disclose them to others? Weak patent systems prevent innovation by the smaller entities which often have the "best" "breakthrough" type inventions.

[Vidikron (FU) @ May 15th 2008 11:27AM]

So what's your opinion on people that patent ideas with the sole intention of suing someone else after they do all the hard work of bring a product to market? I don't know if that's the case here, but that does seem to be the case all too often these days. Someone patents a fairly broad concept and then simply sits on it and shows absolutely real attempt to produce a product based on their patent. That stifles innovation.

[Vidikron (FU) @ May 15th 2008 11:28AM]

That should read, "shows no real attempt". I started to type one thing and then switch to another.

[andy @ May 15th 2008 12:01PM]

Vidikron:


That never happens. Seriously. Individuals and small companies don't spend 20k+ (we do some in this range, but most firms start at 30k including prosecution and if BPAI action is necessary you're looking at more like 50k) just to get and "sit on" an issued patent.

The usual scenario is that someone gets a patent and then either tries to get investment money for a new company and/or shops the idea to existing companies in the industry if it's really an improvement to an existing, complicated product. If you succeed, you either start making it through your company (see Z4 technologies), or you license it to one of the companies already in the business.


However, the current modus operandi (MO) for large companies is to pretend that these guys and their patents don't exist. They either meet with them and simply steal the idea (maybe try to vary it JUST a tad). Or, they don't meet with them at all because they're going to do as they please in the first place without regard to these "small guys." After all, that guy's not going to put up 10mil to sue anyway, right? Besides, no individual has 10mil laying around to do that.

I personally find value in these "patent investment" companies. They risk LARGE amounts of their own money to enforce someone else's patents. And with the currently reduced value of patents (i.e., no permanent injunctions (thanks ebay) and no treble damages (thanks seagate)), they're essentially going to vegas and dropping 10mil on "black". That's a pretty big risk (albeit somewhat calculated) for a fairly small return on investment. So, these investment companies essentially provide a viable enforcement mechanism (which would otherwise be unavailable) for small inventors and small companies, and I therefore find them valuable.

Again, if you can't enforce your patents, why spend the time and effort to get them? And if you can't get them (i.e., existing players can freely use your ideas), why spend the time and effort to come up with something new?

[Nebriv @ May 15th 2008 7:45AM]

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6906700.html

Uhmmm, this patent seems kinda vague....

Google Patent Search reveals nothing...other than the controller...

So if thats the only one I found how can they sue Nintendo for Gamecube's controller? It doesn't use any motion crap in it, does it?

[Ralph @ May 15th 2008 8:10AM]

$21 mil must be a drop in the bucket for a company like nintendo. The DS prints money.

[Twitchy @ May 15th 2008 8:40AM]

$21 million is a lot of dosh that could be better spent on R&D.

Instead it goes to someone who has never done more than to file a patent for a vague 'product' they never intended on producing.

[Taylor @ May 15th 2008 8:12AM]

Patent trolls are scum of the earth, just coming up with extremely broad ideas and patenting them in the hope of making a quick buck (or 21 million for that matter) out of the big companies. A bit like ticket scalpers really

[DonYorke @ May 15th 2008 9:21AM]

Why are these guys trolls? According to the courts they legitimately drafted a product that others with better access to resources stole and brought to market. Why does nintendo and microsoft get a free pass and yet companies like Meziu get shunned?

I swear for some of you, if Engadget say its so, then it must be right. Use your brains. There are alots of creative people out there that arn't part of corperate R&D departments that use patents to protect their ideas.

Also Thomas Ricker is bloger writer, what the hell does he know about the law? His 5 minute google research on this case is bullshit.

[Papa Smurf @ May 15th 2008 2:20PM]

Well well, what a bunch of sour grapes. I wonder how many whiners here have ever even tried to patent anything. I wonder how many have ever developed any designs. Do any of the complainers even know what it takes to patent something? If it's so dang easy, get off your whiney butt and go get rich.

[Loonie @ May 15th 2008 2:31PM]

Hey, you could patent condescending, ignorant posts! And you've even got an example to back it up.

[Marty @ May 15th 2008 9:05AM]

It depends on the circumstance. I don't know the details of this story, but some of you are assuming that this person must have presented their ideas to Nintendo or that Nintendo, because they have so much time to kill, had been searching through patents looking for one to steal.

So there's 2 types:

1. I come to you and say, "Look whut I done made!" and you say, "That there's a dumb ideer"... then later you steal it and make it for yourself. That's lawsuit-worthy, no doubt.

OR

2. You invent a video game controller that makes sandwhiches and gives blowjobs at the same time. You're a millionaire. My fat ass sees you on the idiot box with all your millions and I vaguely remember a patent I filed for a rubber vagina mp3-player/toaster that also plays Tetris. Convinced that you must have stole my idea somehow... I sue you. That makes me a worthless human being.

Also see, Gibson Guitars VS Rock Band.

[friendlyner @ May 15th 2008 9:14AM]

Best. Analogy. Ever. You win.

Anything involving rubber vaginas AND sandwiches gets my vote.

[Peter @ May 15th 2008 9:13AM]

Did someone pass out drugs to the jury before the trial? I just read the patent and the only real similarity between it and the wiimote is that it can control a gaming console and it vibrates.

[Lucius @ May 15th 2008 9:21AM]

Visited the link that was posted in an early response. Company claims to be an "intellectual property investor." That is the biggest croc of shit I've ever heard. Thats fancy speak for "We buy patents and sell them at ridiculous prices after someone else does the work of moving a product to market... or we sue the piss out of you." I for one am highly displease that this crap is clogging up our courts.


oh and btw i patent the idea of moving an electron through a metallic conductor, im gonna start suing ppl next week if they don't start handing over buttloads of cash