Fans of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles line-up of games from Square Enix are in for a treat. Not only because the upcoming DS-and-Wii compatible Echoes of Time looks really sweet, but because a recent trademark by Square Enix has opened up the door for another Crystal Chronicles game.
Recently, Square Enix filed a trademark for Crystal Defenders in the US Patent Trademark database. This new trademark has nothing to do with Echoes of Time, seeing as how Square Enix trademarked that back in July. Of course, there's also the possibility that this isn't for anything new and could be tied to a mobile title from the company, Crystal Guardians W1, says Spencer over at Siliconera. We guess we'll just have to wait and see.
The ITC (International Trade Commission) has announced that it'll be conducting a probe into the allegations of one Hillcrest Laboratories. Back near the tail end of August, Hillcrest filed a patent infringement suit against Nintendo concerning the motion-sensing aspects of the console. This current report states that Hillcrest claims Nintendo infringed upon 4 different patents. The exact specifics, beyond that, aren't known.
In the worst case scenario, the ITC could ban the Wii from the United States. The last time Nintendo lost a patent infringement suit, they paid $21 million. With the 4 violations, they may win some, they may lose some. If they lose this case, we'd say they're putting up a lot more dough than $21 million, though. Or really smart for not sending us all the Wii stock.
Posted Aug 21st 2008 10:55AM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
Another company has gone to court claiming that the Wii infringes on their patents. Last time, it was the input technology in Nintendo's traditional controllers; this time, the suit deals with elements specific to the Wii, and could result in the Wii becoming unavailable in the US. More so.
Hillcrest Laboratories filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission, as well as a patent infringement lawsuit, over the motion-control technology in the Wiimote and the Wii's graphical user interface. "While Hillcrest Labs has a great deal of respect for Nintendo and the Wii," the company stated, "Hillcrest Labs believes that Nintendo is in clear violation of its patents and has taken this action to protect its intellectual property rights.'' Hillcrest currently sells the Freespace technology in their own Loop controller (pictured), and licenses it out to companies including Logitech.
If the International Trade Commission rules in Hillcrest's favor, imports of the Wii and Wii controllers could be blocked. If the lawsuit is successful, Nintendo would most likely just owe Hillcrest a bunch of money.
The panicked consumer is a predictable beast. Upon hearing that the Wii's Classic Controller might be withdrawn from sale in the near future, more and more customers have been scurrying to pick up the sleek, Virtual Console-compatible pad. Sales at Amazon have shot up by 207% after a court threatened to ban further sales of the $19.99 peripheral unless Nintendo coughed up a bond.
As the Classic Controller is still on sale around the 'net, we can only assume that Nintendo did indeed pay up, though the company isn't out of the woods yet: Nintendo will be taking its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, where it will hope to prevent an outright ban.
Remember that recent lawsuit that didn't work out in Nintendo's favor? Then they tried to appeal and failed? Yeah, things aren't looking so hot for Nintendo right now. And the latest on this debacle, courtesy of Bloomberg, doesn't look good for the house that Mario built.
U.S. District Judge Ron Clark denied Nintendo's appeal for a new trial. In Lufkin, Texas, Clark said that he planned to ban further sales of Nintendo's Wii Classic Controller, WaveBird controller and Nintendo GameCube, but must wait for another appeal from Nintendo (this one is headed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit) to go through. Judge Clark is set to issue this ban tomorrow, unless Nintendo posts a bond or puts royalties into an escrow account, which will then stop the ban.
Thankfully for Nintendo, the Wiimote and Nunchuk controllers both have been recognized as not violating Anascape's patent. So, sales of each of these peripherals should not be affected by all of this.
Following Konami's lawsuit, MTV had a couple of things to say. Mainly, they're surprised. "Konami's actions are extremely surprising," an MTV spokesperson said of the suit. See? They're pretty surprised.
"Unfortunately, successful products such as 'Rock Band' can often become targets for baseless litigation. We have substantial defenses to this claim and intend to vigorously defend it," the spokesperson further added. So, what does this mean? Don't expect this to be the last you hear about the battle between the two.
Konami is pretty upset. They recently filed a patent suit against Harmonix, MTV and their parent company, Viacom. Apparently, a little game called Rock Band (you've probably never heard of it) violated patents Konami had filed in 2002 and 2003. The suit seeks to block Harmonix from using Konami's "inventions" and also get compensation in the form of lots of money from the company. With Konami having introduced GuitarFreaks (a game utilizing a guitar controller) to Japanese arcades nearly a decade ago, it seems likely that this is what it's all about.
On June 26, a patent application from Nintendo was published on the USPTO's database. The application details a strange-looking controller with the button layout of the GameCube pad and a big rectangular cavity in the middle. Could we be looking at the future of the Classic Controller, or even the next implementation of the GameCube controller for Wii owners?
No, we couldn't! This application may just now be published in the U.S., but it's based on a Japanese patent application from 2005. This is the past of the Classic Controller, from back when Nintendo was talking about "shells." That cavity is for the Wii Remote, of course, or, as the application puts it, "an imaging information arithmetic unit."
After a recent court ruling that declared Nintendo the loser in a patent infringement case, Nintendo appealed the $21 million penalty sum, hoping to have the charge reduced. Anascape Ltd. was the plaintiff in the case (and potential receiver of large amounts of cash), claiming that Nintendo violated their patents when making the GameCube, Classic, Wavebird, and Wiimote controllers.
A judge denied Nintendo's appeal, finding that the sum was fair based on the evidence. Anascape, obviously, was happy about the outcome, with the lead council saying, "We appreciate the Court's thoughtful consideration in upholding the jury's decision. Although not a giant corporation like Nintendo, Anascape has every right to protect its technology."
Since the patent affects all of Nintendo's most recent controllers, we wonder if this will have any impact on Nintendo's future designs or technologies.
Apple apparently has a Wiimote-like remote in the works for their Apple TV. At least, that's our best guess regarding this patent from November of 2006, as we can't imagine what else Apple would have this planned for. Apple's version of the Wiimote even has an accelerometer, as well as a rather specific purpose detailed that relates to gaming.
Of course, it's only just a patent. We've no idea about the possibility of this device actually becoming a product on retail shelves.
Third-party accessory manufacturers aren't the only ones coming up with ridiculousthings to attach your Wii remote onto! A recent patent application posted at the European Patent Office's site reveals some of the crazy peripherals Nintendo dreamed up to explain the controller's potential, like the goggles shown above. ThinkGeek's Wii Helm seems like a respectable, thought-out product, compared to this silly idea. Wouldn't that unbalanced weight give you a sore neck after a minute of wearing this headpiece?
And there are much zanier diagrams in the application document -- Wii remotes in racing helmets, bike pedals, skateboard wheels, and teddy bears! How would this stuff even work? There are also drafts for a docking station and the old shotgun-design Zapper (the GameCube and wireless receiver demonstrating the Zapper shows the artwork's age). You can check them all out in our gallery below!
Patrick Goschy is a creative guy. If you haven't seen his video for a prototype motion-based controller, which he made years before the Wii was even a console without a controller, then you should catch up. After that, be sure to see Engadget's pictures of the device. Now, Joystiq talks with the man about this twisted tale.
When working for Midway back in 1999 as a Development Systems Technician, Goschy came up with the idea for his first motion-based device. His next invention, the one we've all seen, came later in June of 2000 (although the patent was dated for 1999). In 2000, Midway comes up with some sort of compensation plan which would supplement him for a third patent so the company "can pay anything and fire anytime."
The Joystiq article also takes a look at the legal side of the dispute. Which, based on the words of some of those more educated in patent law than we are, looks to favor anyone not named Patrick Goschy. Since he worked at Midway, the company could very well own it all.
A Pennsylvania (I had nothing to do with it) company is filing a lawsuit against Nintendo (and Sony) for apparently violating its patent for a "hand held computer input apparatus and method." On the Nintendo side of things, the report mentioned both the Wiimote and nunchuk, and was filed last month in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Just another day at the office for Nintendo.
Copper Innovations Group is looking to be awarded damages, plus interest and legal fees. They're also seeking an injunction which would permanently prohibit Nintendo, Sony and their agents (third-party manufacturers) from infringing upon the patent in the future. That means, no more Wiimotes and nunchuks. It's a sad future we're hoping we never have to live through.
Head past the break for a picture of the device Copper Innovations Group is saying that Nintendo copied.
As far as patents go, Nintendo could very well be working on a portable device with some Wii capabilities. Filed in March, the patent discusses "a housing to be held by a player. The housing incorporates an XY-axis acceleration sensor to detect an acceleration in an X-axis and Y-axis direction and a Z-axis contact switch to detect an acceleration in a Z-axis direction." While it could not be plans for a portable Wii, it could very well be plans for an accessory to the console.
According to U.S. Patent No. 20070123353 (are there really that many patents? No. 1 must be for "fire"), Nintendo is contemplating an "invitation system for [online videogames]." A fairly standard feature of Xbox Live, this would enable Wii users to be automatically notified of any friends logged into Nintendo servers, and enable the ability to invite said player to join them in whatever wonderful fantasy land in which they currently reside.
This technically may not even be for the Wii, but with rewritable firmware and a crapton of yen to replace their entire online infrastructure, hey, you never know. If you have ridiculous superstitious tendencies, please feel free to perform them ... now.
The ITC (International Trade Commission) has announced that it'll be conducting a probe into the allegations of one Hillcrest Laboratories. Back near the tail end of August, Hillcrest filed a patent infringement suit against Nintendo concerning the motion-sensing aspects of the console. This current report states that Hillcrest claims Nintendo infringed upon 4 different patents. The exact specifics, beyond that, aren't known.
Another company has gone to court claiming that the Wii infringes on their patents. Last time, it was the input technology in Nintendo's traditional controllers; this time, the suit deals with elements specific to the Wii, and could result in the Wii becoming unavailable in the US. More so.
Following Konami's lawsuit, MTV had a couple of things to say. Mainly, they're surprised. "Konami's actions are extremely surprising," an MTV spokesperson said of the suit. See? They're pretty surprised.
Nintendo is officially down $21 million. 
Patrick Goschy is a creative guy. If you haven't seen his video for a prototype motion-based controller, which he made years before the Wii was even a console without a controller, then you should catch up. After that, be sure to see Engadget's pictures of the device. Now, Joystiq talks with the man about this twisted tale.
[Update 1: Slightly altered the headline.]
