Philips sues Nintendo because of Wii mote !?

[Askarus]

Did you read this?

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/06/philips_secures_wii_patent_victory_over_nintendo_in_the_uk

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-20/nintendo-s-wii-infringed-philips-patents-u-k-court-says.html

It sounds pretty ridiculous I think.

After lots of years Philips sues Nintendo because of the combination of a Camera and a motion sensor in one device.

 

[Majin Wamu]

I guess some people would do anything for money. It's kind of funny how they are attacking a console that hardly has any success while they could just as easily make up crap about Microsoft's xbox along with the connect (I don't know the exact spelling of the device) or even Sony with their own motion sensing mechanisms.

 

[WizardStan]

It's kind of funny how they are attacking a console that hardly has any success

wut?Are we talking about the same Nintendo here? The Wii, which effectively dominated the last 8 years of video game sales, not only outpacing the PS3 and XBox360 but making a profit on every sale? Nintendo banked a lot of money over the years, and now Philips feels they're entitled to some of it.

 

[Yoyobuae]

Exactly, they were probably waiting to see how much money the Wii U raked in before trying to cash out their "share".

 

[rygD]

I didn't read the links.  Is this related to the other news posted here recently about Nintendo being sued?  If so this has been mentioned for years, but I guess it is finally happening.  

Maybe we could get the threads merged?

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Why not simply sue a device connected to electricity ?

Gosh i have to patent this !!!

 

[rygD]

Why not simply sue a device connected to electricity ?

Gosh i have to patent this !!!

Were there licensing fees for creating an electric consumer device back in the early years of electricity?  I know there was some crazy stuff going on back then.

 

[levi]

Well back when electricity was first harnessed, it'd be quite reasonable to patent it (though competition between Edison and Tesla presumably meant they couldn't go mad on licensing fees)

 

[Majin Wamu]

wut? Are we talking about the same Nintendo here? The Wii, which effectively dominated the last 8 years of video game sales, not only outpacing the PS3 and XBox360 but making a profit on every sale? Nintendo banked a lot of money over the years, and now Philips feels they're entitled to some of it.

I was talking about the Wii U. I wasn't really thinking of the Wii, and yes I know the Wii make great sales, the Wii U is not. I thought they were suing over the Wii U, or is it just the Wii. Because the Wii and Wii U are two completely different consoles. I thought they were suing because the article said something about having a camera and a sensor bar attached.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Can somebody please retroactively sue philips for the CDi? It would make my day!!

 

[WizardStan]

the Wii U is not

It isn't that bad. The media spins it a lot worse than it actually is, making a self fulfilling prophecy.

I thought they were suing because the article said something about having a camera and a sensor bar attached.

Yes, that's the wiimote.

 

[Majin Wamu]

the Wii U is not

It isn't that bad. The media spins it a lot worse than it actually is, making a self fulfilling prophecy.

I thought they were suing because the article said something about having a camera and a sensor bar attached.

Yes, that's the wiimote.

Aw! I see. The wiimote. I thought it was the senor attached to the wii pad. Okay thanks.

 

[Askarus]

Can somebody please retroactively sue philips for the CDi? It would make my day!!

I will make your day: http://www.p4rgaming.com/philips-argues-the-wii-us-failure-proves-nintendo-was-inspired-by-the-cd-i/

Philip's strategy is the CD-i!

Read the short article I linked above.

Here are the best statements:

Nintendo has been copying Philips since day one. For example, their new quality of life initiative is clearly inspired by our healthcare division. By winning this lawsuit, we will finally gain the recognition we deserve in the video game industry for innovating failure. We will make sure that Nintendo pays greatly for attempting to steal this title away from us.

Prosecutor Gardner: I would also like to point out that Nintendo copied the idea of adding a letter to the end of their product name.

In Nintendo’s new defense plan, they will point out that the Wii U is actually less successful than the CD-i in an attempt to undermine Philips’s strategy. A Nintendo spokesperson claims that this will not be difficult to prove as long as Sony and Microsoft continue to dominate.

 

[WizardStan]

Yeah... that's a fake article.

 

[Askarus]

But nice to read .

 

[WizardStan]

Until you realize it is fake, and then you're left feeling empty and alone.

 

[Askarus]

Anyways I'm pretty excited about how this will end.

Maybe Nintendo has a better strategy in other countries.

(Or the judges are better)

 

[Asmo]

UK Court rules against Nintendo -

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-06-20-uk-court-rules-against-nintendo-in-wii-patent-battle

23/6/14 2.45pm Nintendo has said it is "committed" to ensuring the continued sale of the Wii, Wii U and Wii Remote after losing a court battle over two patents.

 

[Yoyobuae]

I thought they were suing because the article said something about having a camera and a sensor bar attached.

Yes, that's the wiimote.

Aw! I see. The wiimote. I thought it was the senor attached to the wii pad. Okay thanks.

The so called "sensor bar" is not a sensor at all, just some IR LEDs mounted on either end of the bar. The Wiimote "sees" the IR LEDs via it's IR camera and uses this to calculate which way it is pointing. IIRC, during one of the calibration steps on the Wii the output from the IR camera is shown on screen.
Doesn't have to be LEDs either, any source of IR radiation works, even a pair of candles.

 

[Exophase]

Patents are so incredibly broken. They're supposed to encourage inventors by letting them commercialize a legitimate innovative product concept for a while without someone else blatantly ripping them off. Instead all I ever hear about is a company who made a patent out of everything they could think of, no matter how obvious an idea, that they have no intention of making products out of (and often don't even want to license it). Then they wait for someone else to independently come up with the same idea and only after that company has made a ton of money on it do they swoop in and demand a cut.

The funny thing is that the patent offices have no real idea of a patent is really not copying prior works or even other patents. The system is enforced almost entirely in court. And I bet you anything that the only reason Philips waited this long to sue Nintendo is because it took this long for their lawyers to even realize they had a patent that could be used against Nintendo. That, or they waited for Wii to stop selling so Nintendo couldn't redesign the technology to get out of further license fees.