Nintendo of America have won another patent case, after Quintal Research Group asserted in a dispute filed on 27th February 2013 that the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance systems had infringed upon their patent.
Leapfrog’s Leapster Explorer and Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) were also previously targeted, but on 17th July 2015 judge Saundra Armstrong ruled that Nintendo did not infringe on the patent and therefore dismissed the case.
Nintendo describe Quintal as “a patent-assertion company run by the named inventor of the asserted patent, who is also a patent lawyer.”
The patent that was contested in the dispute had covered “a portable, handheld communication device for rapid retrieval of computerised information, the device having a generally rectangular shape with a display screen on one side that has a frame with an ergonomic placement of finger controls including a pair of thumb controls on either side of the screen and a pair of finger controls on the top of the display with at least one of the finger controls being a cursor or pointer control.”
Nintendo of America’s general counsel and senior vice president of business affairs Devon Pritchard commented, “We are very pleased to have this case dismissed. The result in this case continues to prove that Nintendo will vigorously defend its innovations against patent lawsuits and will not pay to settle cases simply to avoid litigation.
“Nintendo continues to support patent reform efforts that reduce the unnecessary and inefficient burden cases like this one place on technology companies in the United States.”
