Nintendo patent lawsuit
Chalks up a win in battle with Fenner.
REDMOND, Wash., March 16, 2009 – A U.S. District Court judge has summarily dismissed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Nintendo brought by Fenner Investments Ltd. Fenner had alleged that the Wii™ console and its controllers, as well as the Nintendo GameCube™, infringed on one of its patents (U.S. Patent No. 6,297,751). Judge Leonard Davis of the U.S. District Court in Tyler, Texas, dismissed the case on Monday, and ruled that there was no need for a jury trial.
"We are very pleased with the court's decision," said Rick Flamm, Nintendo of America's Senior Vice President, Legal & General Counsel. "Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others. We also vigorously defend patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party's patent, despite the risks that this policy entails. I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the tireless efforts of our legal team, which represented us so well."
For more information about Nintendo, visit www.Nintendo.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 2.8 billion video games and more than 485 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii and Nintendo DS, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.