Nintendo of America continues to fend off any legal challenge, with a United States Appeals Court having confirmed that the Nintendo 3DS does not use technology covered in a patent asserted by Tomita Technologies.
This court battle has been going on for several years, after Nintendo was first sued in July 2011. Nintendo went on to receive a guilty verdict with a jury awarding $30.2 million in damages, although were successful in their appeal that saw the dispute ultimately overturned by Judge Jed Rakoff in New York Federal Court back in April 2016.
Now, on March 17th, a United States Appeals Court has “specifically confirmed that Nintendo 3DS includes technology that is significantly different from the patented technology.”
Nintendo notes that this is the second decision that the Appeals Court has made in their favour, which had first reversed a 2013 judgment against Nintendo. It also follows a failed attempt by Tomita to enforce a similar patent claim in Japan.
“We are very pleased with the Court’s decision,” comments Ajay Singh, Nintendo of America’s director of litigation and compliance. “Nintendo 3DS has never used the technology in Tomita’s patent, and the Court’s ruling confirms Nintendo’s long tradition of using its own innovative technology.
“This case also proves once again that Nintendo will aggressively defend patent lawsuits when our products do not infringe, even when we must do so over many years, through multiple trials and in multiple countries.”
