Nintendo is suing White Cat Project developer Colopl for approximately 4.98 billion yen (roughly $ 47 million) for 5 different patent infringements.
In 2018, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against White Cat Project developer Colopl following a patent infringement complaint. The lawsuit has been ongoing for quite some time, and Nintendo claims that Colopl copied a proprietary control scheme. Since then, the developer has changed some of its control schemes, but still refuses to admit any wrongdoing.
Nintendo is known for criticizing many people and companies in court. The popular Japanese publisher / developer recently won a lawsuit after a go-kart company was found dressing customers in Nintendo character costumes to create a real-life Mario Kart. The company won $ 480,000 in damages in that lawsuit. The beloved company is very protective of its image and characters, so it’s no surprise that Nintendo is so adamant about taking people to court when it sees the opportunity. That being said, this new suit can take things to another level.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
Nintendo’s current lawsuit against Colopl has increased the requested damages from 4.4 billion yen to 4.95 billion yen (approximately $ 47 million) due to accumulated fees in recent years (via Siliconera Y Famitsu). Nintendo is currently suing the mobile game developer for five patent infringements, including a touch control scheme that Nintendo has patented. Colopl has recorded that it is “confident that our game does not infringe Nintendo’s patent rights ” and that the company would support the “legitimacy of that point of view“. Colopl allegedly notably infringed.”the special technology used to operate a joystick on a touch panel“which Nintendo has patented. Ironically, Nintendo has also found itself in deep legal waters with regard to analog sticks.
The problems began in 2016 when Nintendo issued complaints, but Colopl went out of his way to explain to Nintendo how he was not copying. This apparently did not go well for Nintendo, as a lawsuit began shortly after. Whether or not a court will side with Nintendo remains to be seen, but since the lawsuit has gone on for so long, it appears that it can be difficult to determine whether there was actually a patent infringement.
Since Nintendo is one of the largest companies in the world, there are surely many talented attorneys who can help Nintendo win any type of lawsuit on some type of legal basis. The lawsuit is likely to continue for a while, but since Colopl is unwilling to give up its beliefs that it did not infringe the patent, it seems unlikely that a middle ground will be found in an out-of-court settlement. with Nintendo.
Source: Siliconera, Famitsu
Reference-screenrant.com
