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iLife Technologies’ $144 million patent infringement case against Nintendo has ended with the tech company being awarded $10 million for infringing tech in Wii Remotes.

Alissa McAloon, Publisher

August 31, 2017

1 Min Read

A federal lawsuit filed against Nintendo in 2013 by iLife Technology has ended in a jury awarding $10 million to the technology firm following its claims that Nintendo violated its patents to create the Wii’s motion-tracking tech. 

In December 2013, iLife first alleged that Nintendo violated six of its patents, including one in particular that it had filed for its own motion-tracking tech designed to help monitor and detect sudden infant death syndrome and, in the case of the elderly, dangerous falls.

Previously, Nintendo’s legal team had argued that the patent itself was invalid for “lack of an adequate written description.” Though the company conceded that both applications made use of an accelerometer, a sensor, and a processor, Nintendo said that both it and iLife took “very different paths” with how the technology was used.

According to Glixel, iLife originally sought a $4 per unit royalty payment for each of the 36 million Wii and Wii U systems sold in the six years ahead of the suit for a total of $144 million. The Texas jury today ruled for a $10 million award in iLife’s favor, roughly 25 cents per Wii sold.

Nintendo said it would appeal the verdict.

About the Author(s)

Alissa McAloon

Publisher, GameDeveloper.com

As the Publisher of Game Developer, Alissa McAloon brings a decade of experience in the video game industry and media. When not working in the world of B2B game journalism, Alissa enjoys spending her time in the worlds of immersive sandbox games or dabbling in the occasional TTRPG.

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