Nintendo ordered to pay $21 million to patent troll

**Hard core Rikki** · May 15th, 2008

Nintendo ordered to pay $21 million to patent troll - Engadget

Quote:

Remember Anascape Ltd, the little "gaming company" that sued Microsoft and Nintendo back in 2006 for controller patent infringement? Well, it's payday to the tune of $21 million after a jury found Nintendo's Wii Classic, WaveBird, and Gamecube controller designs all guilty of violating Anascape's patents. Nintendo will appeal naturally while Microsoft settled the case before the matter ever went to trial. Now go ahead and Google Anascape with the challenge of finding a single service or product offering. Oh, did we mention that they are based in the patent-lawsuit friendly state of Tejas? Patent Trolls? Oh, you betcha.

Anascape... there is none.

Should've paid more, just for the hauty arrogance of them Nintendo top brass now.
Welcome to Tejas.

__________________

Tilla · May 15th, 2008

I love how when someone sues Nintendo for patents they are called trolls, but when someone sues Sony for patents Sony is the bad guy.

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**Xtreme2damax** · May 15th, 2008

As I wrote on my forum:

That is ridiculous, Anascape has no tangible history, no product to show and Google search turns up zero results about this alleged company.

Just another get rich scheme by filing a vague patent that is poorly written, come up with a phony name for your company, waiting on it until another company creates something remotely similar or has nothing to do with the alleged patent in question, then sue the company for all they can when it becomes successful.

I really hope Nintendo counter sues or appeals, because this most certainly isn't right to say the least since any educated or sane judge/court would of threw this suit out as soon as it entered the court.

In a case like this the patent trolls are always the bad guys, only reason I think people might of called Sony the bad guys is because of their history. Remember Sony has been caught using underhanded tactics, rootkit fiasco, poor pr and marketing department that hyped the PS3 with pre-rendered shots claiming them as in game when it is actually no better than the Xbox 360 in the graphics department, the fact Sony hasn't came out with and original idea in a while and blatantly copies other companies ideas (Six axis motion sensing failure anyone, Wiimote copycat?) So yes most people's trust in Sony has dwindled because of these reasons which is why they are looked at as the "bad guy" in patent suits.

But in any case the company in the article is an obvious patent troll/hermit who uses the method I explained above to get rich without actually doing anything or creating a product. Patent trolls usually have no tangible company history or a product to show. They just file a vague and poorly described patent, conjure up a phony name for their alleged company, sit back and wait until a successful company comes along and creates something remotely similar or something even unrelated to the patent but sound similar and sues them in court for all they can and get rich quickly without putting any effort into anything.

Why do you ask is it filed in Texas? It's no wonder with how ****ed up Texas's judicial system is with dumb-butt judges and lawyers. Had this case been in any other state it would of been thrown out immediately.

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**Hard core Rikki** · May 15th, 2008

Patent trolls still have it rolling. Also, the legal system is pretty fscked up everywhere else as well. People could be sued for having a greener lawn than their neighbours. Yes, very ridiculous. And yet, they would still have to defend their case in order to not lose.

Patents can be written about pretty much everything. Just make it confusing enough that it could be used to mean absolutely anything. Got a patent about "a spatially-aware device for local manipulations in a software-based environment" ? Can be used against mouse-makers, wiimote manufacturers, trackball makers, etc...... you're only limited by the creativity of the lawyiers who wrote such applications (it's not unusual for lawyers to spends weeks/months just writing the patent applications in a vague and deceptive way, in all cases spending much more time of just the application than on any real work or other efforts).

Litigation does not happen to force discontinuation of violations (cease and desist), thats just a ploy to get extortion money (by letting "violations" occur till they reach a critically large point, the trolls gain extra ground for their claims. also, they can claim damages and similar "losses" (when none has been suffered).

Does anyone remember the GIF patent trolls? Conveniently coming out from under their rock just after GIF became popular.

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Last edited by Hard core Rikki; May 15th, 2008 at 20:13..

TheCloudOfSmoke · May 16th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xtreme2damax

As I wrote on my forum:

That is ridiculous, Anascape has no tangible history, no product to show and Google search turns up zero results about this alleged company.

Just another get rich scheme by filing a vague patent that is poorly written, come up with a phony name for your company, waiting on it until another company creates something remotely similar or has nothing to do with the alleged patent in question, then sue the company for all they can when it becomes successful.

I really hope Nintendo counter sues or appeals, because this most certainly isn't right to say the least since any educated or sane judge/court would of threw this suit out as soon as it entered the court.

In a case like this the patent trolls are always the bad guys, only reason I think people might of called Sony the bad guys is because of their history. Remember Sony has been caught using underhanded tactics, rootkit fiasco, poor pr and marketing department that hyped the PS3 with pre-rendered shots claiming them as in game when it is actually no better than the Xbox 360 in the graphics department, the fact Sony hasn't came out with and original idea in a while and blatantly copies other companies ideas (Six axis motion sensing failure anyone, Wiimote copycat?) So yes most people's trust in Sony has dwindled because of these reasons which is why they are looked at as the "bad guy" in patent suits.

But in any case the company in the article is an obvious patent troll/hermit who uses the method I explained above to get rich without actually doing anything or creating a product. Patent trolls usually have no tangible company history or a product to show. They just file a vague and poorly described patent, conjure up a phony name for their alleged company, sit back and wait until a successful company comes along and creates something remotely similar or something even unrelated to the patent but sound similar and sues them in court for all they can and get rich quickly without putting any effort into anything.

Why do you ask is it filed in Texas? It's no wonder with how ****ed up Texas's judicial system is with dumb-butt judges and lawyers. Had this case been in any other state it would of been thrown out immediately.

Well, my guess for the reason that people got on Sony was because of their history of suing smaller companies who made PS emulators (bleem) and other legal stuff against the PS emulation community. Just my guess though.

Where is the description of the patent anyways? I would like to see how the patent was written.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by BigIg

If I support the game company, then I won't won't be supporting the blank DVD business.

Decisions, decisions.

**cottonvibes** · May 16th, 2008

i hate these damn patent trolls.

every idea is ****ing patented, and usually by sh1t companies.

so that means that us consumers don't get cool technology because of these damn patents.

i hate copyright laws and patents.

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snickothemule · May 16th, 2008

Stupid Anascape, you go squish now!

Gutsy of Nintendo to stand up to this "company", Microsoft should have done the same (although they get sued every 5 minutes and can't be arsed to fight half these battles).

As a thought why don't Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft just by the damn "company". It's not like they are on hard times or anything.

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**Hard core Rikki** · May 16th, 2008

Thats the whole ordeal... Ultimately, they have no value at all. SCO wanted to be bought by IBM so badly, back in the days. It also would've given them extra exposure. No way a "company" making no products and having no revenues at all (not even adsense for a website or anything) will be getting 21 millions just cuz they spent enough time to confuse the american patent office.

More importantly, software patents are an extremely dangerous thing. Ok, more protection given? Why has nothing gone to the public domain or public benefit like, at all? Or maybe such patented techniques will be ok to use in 50 years ?

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May 15th, 2008	#2 (permalink)
Tilla Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 148	I love how when someone sues Nintendo for patents they are called trolls, but when someone sues Sony for patents Sony is the bad guy. __________________ Playstation 3 80GB Intel Core2Duo E6750 2.66 Ghz~4x1GB OCZ PC2-6400 RAM~Western Digital Caviar 250GB SATA2 HDD~Visiontek Radeon HD 3870

May 15th, 2008	#3 (permalink)
Xtreme2damax T-5000 Modenator Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Here, there, everywhere, even in your couch cushions.. Posts: 3,139	As I wrote on my forum: That is ridiculous, Anascape has no tangible history, no product to show and Google search turns up zero results about this alleged company. Just another get rich scheme by filing a vague patent that is poorly written, come up with a phony name for your company, waiting on it until another company creates something remotely similar or has nothing to do with the alleged patent in question, then sue the company for all they can when it becomes successful. I really hope Nintendo counter sues or appeals, because this most certainly isn't right to say the least since any educated or sane judge/court would of threw this suit out as soon as it entered the court. In a case like this the patent trolls are always the bad guys, only reason I think people might of called Sony the bad guys is because of their history. Remember Sony has been caught using underhanded tactics, rootkit fiasco, poor pr and marketing department that hyped the PS3 with pre-rendered shots claiming them as in game when it is actually no better than the Xbox 360 in the graphics department, the fact Sony hasn't came out with and original idea in a while and blatantly copies other companies ideas (Six axis motion sensing failure anyone, Wiimote copycat?) So yes most people's trust in Sony has dwindled because of these reasons which is why they are looked at as the "bad guy" in patent suits. But in any case the company in the article is an obvious patent troll/hermit who uses the method I explained above to get rich without actually doing anything or creating a product. Patent trolls usually have no tangible company history or a product to show. They just file a vague and poorly described patent, conjure up a phony name for their alleged company, sit back and wait until a successful company comes along and creates something remotely similar or something even unrelated to the patent but sound similar and sues them in court for all they can and get rich quickly without putting any effort into anything. Why do you ask is it filed in Texas? It's no wonder with how ****ed up Texas's judicial system is with dumb-butt judges and lawyers. Had this case been in any other state it would of been thrown out immediately. __________________ \| Xtemulation Forums \| Dolphin SVN Builds \| \| XTemulation Wiki \| PCSX2 SVN Builds \| Download the free Xtemulation Toolbar If you like Xtemulation, please Digg Us

May 15th, 2008	#4 (permalink)
Hard core Rikki And the science gets done Join Date: May 2004 Location: Perpetual Pompei Posts: 7,221	Patent trolls still have it rolling. Also, the legal system is pretty fscked up everywhere else as well. People could be sued for having a greener lawn than their neighbours. Yes, very ridiculous. And yet, they would still have to defend their case in order to not lose. Patents can be written about pretty much everything. Just make it confusing enough that it could be used to mean absolutely anything. Got a patent about "a spatially-aware device for local manipulations in a software-based environment" ? Can be used against mouse-makers, wiimote manufacturers, trackball makers, etc...... you're only limited by the creativity of the lawyiers who wrote such applications (it's not unusual for lawyers to spends weeks/months just writing the patent applications in a vague and deceptive way, in all cases spending much more time of just the application than on any real work or other efforts). Litigation does not happen to force discontinuation of violations (cease and desist), thats just a ploy to get extortion money (by letting "violations" occur till they reach a critically large point, the trolls gain extra ground for their claims. also, they can claim damages and similar "losses" (when none has been suffered). Does anyone remember the GIF patent trolls? Conveniently coming out from under their rock just after GIF became popular. __________________ deviantART \| Blog \| Webcomics \| VBA-M \| PCSX2 \| @ES \| Shendo \| GeneralEmu \| XTemu Get the NGemu toolbar http://ngemu.ourtoolbar.com Last edited by Hard core Rikki; May 15th, 2008 at 20:13..

May 16th, 2008	#7 (permalink)
snickothemule Shennanigans since 1987 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Coffs Harbour, Australia Posts: 2,053	Stupid Anascape, you go squish now! Gutsy of Nintendo to stand up to this "company", Microsoft should have done the same (although they get sued every 5 minutes and can't be arsed to fight half these battles). As a thought why don't Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft just by the damn "company". It's not like they are on hard times or anything. __________________ The ngemu Ghetto Art competition 2009 - now with real prizes!

May 16th, 2008	#8 (permalink)
Hard core Rikki And the science gets done Join Date: May 2004 Location: Perpetual Pompei Posts: 7,221	Thats the whole ordeal... Ultimately, they have no value at all. SCO wanted to be bought by IBM so badly, back in the days. It also would've given them extra exposure. No way a "company" making no products and having no revenues at all (not even adsense for a website or anything) will be getting 21 millions just cuz they spent enough time to confuse the american patent office. More importantly, software patents are an extremely dangerous thing. Ok, more protection given? Why has nothing gone to the public domain or public benefit like, at all? Or maybe such patented techniques will be ok to use in 50 years ? __________________ deviantART \| Blog \| Webcomics \| VBA-M \| PCSX2 \| @ES \| Shendo \| GeneralEmu \| XTemu Get the NGemu toolbar http://ngemu.ourtoolbar.com