Patent lawsuit aims to block Nintendo Wii in US

Technology license holder Hillcrest Labs today sought to draw support for its cause by publicizing a lawsuit against Nintendo over its Wii console. The Maryland-based plaintiff claims that Nintendo's Wii remote is violating four US patents relating to a spatial controller and on-screen interface for content on TVs. The Japanese electronics maker is knowingly profiting from the Wii in the US without licensing the relevant technology, according to the complaint.

"While Hillcrest Labs has a great deal of respect for Nintendo and the Wii, Hillcrest Labs believes that Nintendo is in clear violation of its patents and has taken this action to protect its intellectual property rights," the suing company says in a statement.

The damages sought in the lawsuit are unavailable and should be published later, though a separate complaint with the US' International Trade Commission has also been filed that hopes to ban Wii imports as long as the systems are sold without patent licenses.

The firm is still considered a startup and was launched only in 2001, but has already had some commercial success in licensing its Freespace motion technology for Logitech's MX Air mouse and has also seen smaller licenses for remote controls. A new, unnamed home entertainment system using a 3D remote is also slated to use Freespace and a matching interface later in the year.

Nintendo hasn't publicly responded to the lawsuit.

Filed under: gaming, gadgets
Other story tags: Nintendo, lawsuits, Wii, Logitech