Jury Tells Nintendo To Pay $30.2 Million In Damages Over 3D Patent Infringement

Nintendo’s 3DS gaming device was quite a sensation, even if not didn’t muster the extra-ordinary sales Nintendo was hoping for. However, the device has landed the company in the middle of lawsuit which concluded today. The jury has told Nintendo to pay $30.2 million in damages.


Nintendo 3DS

The lawsuit was launched by Seijiro Tomita, who is a former employee of Sony. Tomita claims that he had developed a patent about such 3D images which can be seen without using 3D glasses. Tomita further alleged that Nintendo made use of the very same technology in its 3DS device, and thus launched a lawsuit against the company in 2011.

Nintendo’s stance was that it didn’t essentially make use of any central features of Tomita’s patent and thus, the lawsuit was pointless. Unfortunately for the console-maker, the jury didn’t quite agree with that view.

A New York jury has now found Nintendo of infringing the patent by Tomita and has ruled that Nintendo must pay $30.2 million in damages. Nintendo is already not in a very favorable situation, given its console sales. And now, this lawsuit’s verdict means that the company is taking a significant hit.

However, we can rest assured that the company is going to appeal against it, drag it on for a while and perhaps, even try to settle it out of court.

Source: Reuters

Courtesy: CNET

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Salman

Salman Latif is a software engineer with a specific interest in social media, big data and real-world solutions using the two.Other than that, he is a bit of a gypsy. He also writes in his own blog. You can find him on Google+ and Twitter .

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