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Nintendo Wii: Banned in the USA?
Gnavin
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I found this article over on MSN today, and I was wondering if anyone else had seen it.
http://tech.msn.com/news/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=8815433>1=40000
There's the link to the article, but I'll post the article here for lazy people.
What do you guys think of this sort of "anticipatory patent law" stuff?
http://tech.msn.com/news/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=8815433>1=40000
There's the link to the article, but I'll post the article here for lazy people.
MSN wrote:No, I'm not kidding, it's not a gratuitous headline hit-grabber, Nintendo is in fact facing a serious ban on several of the controllers for the Wii as well as GameCube after it lost its legal bid to scuttle a $21 million patent-infringement verdict.
Microsoft was also on the hook at one point, but settled before trial. Nintendo went to trial and lost, and on June 26, District Judge Ron Clark (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas) denied Nintendo's claim that the $21 million payment to Anascape was excessive. Clark also threw out Nintendo's bid for a new trial. He is supposed to issue his ban today.
Blame Anascape Ltd. Or blame Nintendo. Or just blame luckless entropy if you think it's all just some great big coincidence.
What's Anascape? Some firm in Texas without a searchable Web page, for one. Also the owner of patents 5,999,084 ("variable conductance sensor"), 6,102,802 ("game controller with analog pressure sensor"), 6,135,886 ("variable conductance sensor with elastomeric dome cap"), 6,208,271 ("remote controller with analog button"), 6,222,525 ("image controller with sheet connected sensors"), 6,343,991 ("game control with analog pressure sensor"), 6,344,791 ("variable sensor with tactile feedback"), 6,347,997 ("analog controls housed with electronic displays"), 6,351,20 ("variable conductance sensory"), 6,400,303 ("remote controller with analog pressure sensor"), 6,563,415 ("analog sensor with snap through tactile feedback"), and finally, 6,906,700 ("3D controller with vibration").
Did you really just read through all of that? I'm sorry.
But glancing at a few of those, you can kind of see where the issue(s) might be, whether you come down on the side of "to heck with all this silly anticipatory patent law" or all the way over on the other end with a hearty "to heck with Nintendo flouting all that silly anticipatory patent law." Or something.
Here's the skinny on what it actually affects:
* The GameCube or WaveBird controllers, which Nintendo no longer makes.
* The Wii Classic Controller (Nintendo's Charlie Scibetta says the company will still be able to sell it pending Nintendo's appeal).
Here's what it doesn't:
* The Wii Remote (unless paired with the Wii Classic Controller)
* The Wii Nunchuk
How will Nintendo get out of this one? They'll have to either post a bond or put royalties in an escrow account to avoid a sale halt, according to Anascape's lawyer Doug Cawley. Nintendo of course plans to appeal the verdict, claiming it didn't use Anascape's technology.
Would someone just get on with it and put us out of our misery by patenting the universe already?
What do you guys think of this sort of "anticipatory patent law" stuff?
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edit: Worst case for nintendo is that they deposit money into escrow to pay off royalties... or Nintendo does whatever Sony did when they got sued for stealing the dual shock from whoever... Not really a big deal.
I don't even know what the hell that means.
I, for one, feel much better about the state of the economy thanks to their influence....
When someone says "I'm not being rude but" then they're alway about to be rude.
When someone says "I'm not a racist but" then they're always a racist.
When someone addresses you as "Friend" they are not your friend.
And so on, and so forth.
They lied to us all.
But especially you.
Also, a FOX report said that Mr. Rogers is bad for children.
You are NOT special.
This will only drive Wii sales up, if this story gets massive attention. People will think the Wii will be banned for some time so they'll want to rush out and buy one while they still can.
That is, if they can find one on store shelves.
(ZING)
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
And, for posterity's sake... these patents ought never to have been issued.
The BEST thing about the US patent system is that even when patents are under dispute with the USPO lawsuits are not put on hold.
So, someone gets sued by a bad patent. Appeal the PATENT at the USPO, and the lawsuit continues, they're ruled against in court and have to pay damages/royalties et al. The patent is overturned, and they don't get their money back.
So very, very broken.
I see.
Well, I wonder if Sony and Microsoft aren't already doing something about this seeing as how "pressure sensitive analog sticks" are featured of their fine products as well... At face value it would seem that it would be in their best interest to stop this as soon as possible since either of them could be next. I know for a fact that Microsoft has been dealing with this for decades... Perhaps they could share a page out of their playbook with Nintendo.
Edit: It appears Anascape already sued Microsoft... out of court settlement. Nintendo! You know what to do.
Edit2: In Sony's similar lawsuit Sony agreed to pay licensing fees to get the rumble function back into their controllers.
Dude, look, the reason they didn't have rumble in their controllers is because in 2007 the world just wasn't ready for Sixaxis PLUS rumble and in 2008 we WERE ready. As a people. As a species. It had NOTHING to do with licensing.
SUCH A MASSIVE NUMBER WOULD BE THE END OF NINTENDO AS WE KNOW IT.
GADZOOKS.
If they settle, then Sony and MS can fight it when it comes and look better for it.
Yes it is you lying liar face.
Anyone who thinks that would ever happen is a certified nimrod.
Lol reading posts is fundamental!
I actually AM a certified nimrod. I have a certificate and everything. And I still don't think this would ever happen.
I am always hopeful in cases like this that there is a part of the story we are missing. Maybe the people holding the patent actually have just cause and their ideas and hundreds of hours of engineering were maliciously taken by Nintendo! I mean a game controller is so complex! Doubtful...sigh...
Create your own animations at Fuzzwich!
I'm all for patents that are innovative. For example, Apple's iPod touch ring thing was a stroke of fricking genius. That deserves a patent. The Sony lawsuit with Immersion was a good ruling too, because Immersion makes haptic devices and had some out on the market.
I think a new rule in the US patent system should require not only a patent explanation, but also a functioning prototype. This will kill the patent trolls in their tracks when all they own is paper.
Ideas aren't worth shit. I can't copyright an idea, it has to be "fixed in medium" for it to get copyright protection. Why can't patents be the same way?
Plus, Innovation was not sufficient reason for patents as they were conceived and that conception at least had a semblance of sense.
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I like this.
http://williampatry.blogspot.com/2008/07/eu-railroads-term-extension.html
Funny thing about that:
The only reason Fred Rogers didn't reach down from Heaven (where he surely is, if such a place exists) and erase Fox News from existence with a smudge of his index finger is because he's too nice.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I don't follow this Judge Clark.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Is the thread already so long that you couldn't read it? They don't appear to have sued Sony for some reason, but...
How can a company whose sole income is from litigation file a suit for damages? They can't lose money on a product they don't make. NOT violating their copyright would constitute damages, but it seems to me that by violating their copyright Nintendo has kept them in business.
Fucking licensing fees. So god damn ridiculous.
I really love how anti-ip protections you are. I wish I could be so bold, but am having trouble making that final leap.
I mean, I can see the advantage for consumers of no IP laws. For example, there would've never been a wii shortage in the first place. I'm sure there would've been enough wii clones made to meet consumers needs. Nintendo would be pressured not only to make enough wii's, but to make the most affordable wii they can.
I'm just not sure that without IP protection we ever get to something like the wii. I mean, who is going to spend money developing a whole console system, when a competitor can save that cost and build his own fully compatible version if the console becomes popular? I think the most innovation we'd get are incremental improvements to perhiperals for PC gaming. No well conceived vision, just a clusterfuck of ideas. Now don't get me wrong, great things can be born this way, but even if some great system emerges, there might not be enough support behind it.
Maybe that first great game to popularize it will never be made. After all, a company is going to be less willing to spend a fortune developing a game around some neat new thing instead of a well established popular (though maybe inferior) design. Speaking of games, they'd probably all be free. Of course, they might mostly be made by amateurs. I mean it's hard to sell a game when anyone can get a copy of it for free without fear of punishment. I suppose they could be funded by advertising and product placement. Who wouldn't rather play Pepsi Challenge The Game over Halo?
Yes, patents can be dumb when you look at all the dinky little things they protect. A brace with three holes instead of two? Without IP protections at all though I have a hard time picturing the necessary time being spent to develop labor intensive, large scale, well conceived visions.