Nintendo has been ordered to pay $10 million in a Wii lawsuit

pulse

September 1, 2017 6:48 PM

Nintendo was ordered to pay $10 million to Texas-based iLife Technologies in a patent dispute over the Nintendo Wii. Remember the Wii?

The Japanese video-game giant Nintendo was ordered by a Texas court on Thursday to pay $10 million in a patent lawsuit filed by iLife Technologies.

The patent in question: a motion-sensing technology from iLife Technologies related to medical applications.

The company alleged, and a Texas jury agreed, that Nintendo misappropriated iLife's patented technology for use in its Wii game console — specifically that the Wii's remote controls, motion controllers, were infringing on its patent.

The suit was filed over three years ago, and a jury came to a conclusion this week. Nintendo told Rolling Stone it planned to appeal the ruling.

Here's the full statement Nintendo issued after the ruling:

"On Aug. 31, 2017, a jury in Texas found that certain Wii and Wii U video game systems and software bundles infringed a patent belonging to iLife Technologies Inc. related to detecting if a person has fallen down. The jury awarded iLife $10 million in damages. Nintendo disagrees with the decision, as Nintendo does not infringe iLife's patent and the patent is invalid. Nintendo looks forward to raising those issues with the district court and with the court of appeals."

The original suit filed by iLife sought $144 million — $4 for each of the 36 million Nintendo Wii units sold before it filed. Nintendo went on to sell over 100 million Wii units.

Should Nintendo lose the appeal and the Texas jury's decision stands, Nintendo will pay $10 million to iLife Technologies — or about $0.27 for each of the 36 million Wii consoles.

pulse