The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. has ruled that Nintendo didn’t infringe upon motion control patents held by Motiva LLC in a case that will allow the company to continue importing Wii consoles into the States. Motiva had argued that the platform holder infringed two patents for a system to track a player’s position and body movement, Reuters reports.
Affirming a January 2012 ruling by the US International Trade Commission, the three-judge appeals court panel ruled that Dublin, Ohio based Motiva's lawsuit was an attempt to win damages or a settlement. Judge Sharon Prost said: "Motiva's litigation was targeted at financial gains, not at encouraging adoption of Motiva's patented technology. There is simply no reasonable likelihood that, after successful litigation against Nintendo, Motiva's patented technology would have been licensed by partners who would have incorporated it." Motiva lawyer Christopher Banys labelled the ruling "unfortunate" but insisted the case was not over, saying. "We are confident that Motiva will be vindicated when its case is tried in district court.”
Nintendo has successfully defended multiple Wii-related lawsuits since launching the console in 2006. Lifetime Wii sales stood at 99.84 million units at the end of Nintendo’s financial year on March 31 2013.
In March, a New York federal jury found Nintendo guilty of infringing on an inventor's patent for glasses-free 3D technology with the 3DS. The jury awarded inventor and former Sony veteran Seijiro Tomita $30.2 million (£20.2m) in compensatory damages.
