Nintendo hit back at "patent trolls" today, after a patent infringement lawsuit from a fitness company was dismissed by a Maryland U.S. District Court judge.
IA Labs, also known as Powergrid Fitness,
sued Nintendo's Japan headquarters and Nintendo of America in 2010, accusing Nintendo of infringing on two separate IA Labs patents through technology used in the Nintendo Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, the Wii Balance Board, Wii Remote, Wii Wheel, Wii MotionPlus, Wii Nunchuck and Wii Zapper.
A judge has now ruled that there is no need for a jury trial in the case, and dismissed the allegations. This is the third consecutive time this year that Nintendo has prevailed in a patent litigation case.
Rick Flamm, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of Legal & General Counsel, took the opportunity to shoot a warning at other companies looking to file this sort of patent infringement case against the company.
"Nintendo has a passionate tradition of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others," he explained. "We vigorously defend patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party's patent."
"We refuse to succumb to patent trolls," he added.
