Another patent infringement suit was filed Monday against Nintend...
Another patent infringement suit was filed Monday against Nintendo, this time by little-known Ohio company Motiva, in U.S. District Court in Tyler, Texas. Motiva accused Nintendo of America and parent Nintendo of infringing U.S. Patent No. 7,292,151, issued Nov.…
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6, 2007, and titled “Human movement measurement system.” The patent, awarded to inventors Kevin Ferguson of Dublin, Ohio, and Donald Gronachan of Holtsville, N.Y., covers a system for measuring “the position of transponders for testing and training a user to manipulate the position of the transponders while being guided by interactive and sensory feedback through a bidirectional communication link to a processing system for the purpose of functional movement assessment for exercise and physical rehabilitation,” according to a filing at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Motiva accused Nintendo of infringing the patent by making, importing and selling in the U.S. products and/or services, including videogame systems, that “embody the inventions claimed” in the patent. Motiva didn’t say which game system it is accusing of infringement. But elements of the patent’s description bring to mind the Wii console and the Wii Fit game shipped for it in the spring. It’s “a safe bet” that Wii is among products Motiva deems infringing, said Christopher Banys, one of the company’s attorneys. He told Consumer Electronics Daily that Motiva wasn’t required to list all infringing products in the complaint and he declined to do that Wednesday. Inventors Ferguson and Gronachan own Motiva, he said. Nintendo didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment by our deadline. Motiva requested preliminary and permanent injunctions to block further infringement by Nintendo, in addition to unspecified damages and attorney’s fees. It asked for a jury trial. In May, Nintendo of America was ordered to pay $21 million to Anascape for violating that company’s patents. A jury found that Nintendo infringed on the obscure Texas company’s patents while designing the Wii Classic, WaveBird and GameCube controllers (CED May 16 p7).