Nintendo is not doing so hot at the moment. Based on the company’s recent financials, they failed to meet sales expectations, despite slashing those estimations earlier. What this means is that the company will probably want to focus its efforts on improving its console, the Wii U, by creating games that will make gamers want to buy it. What they don’t want is a lawsuit which would distract them from that process.
Well unfortunately in life we don’t always get what we want, and it looks like Nintendo has recently been slapped with a lawsuit from Philips, who claims that the company had infringed upon their patents with the Wii U, and are seeking three times the damages as well as requesting that the Wii U be banned from being sold.
According to Philips, Nintendo infringed upon two of their patents related to “Virtual Body Control Device” and “User Interface System Based on Pointing Device”, both of which are apparently used in the Wii U game console. They also allege that Nintendo knew about these patents back in 2011 but proceeded anyway without permission or attaining the proper licensing.
Like we said earlier, Nintendo is currently in a place where they aren’t selling as many Wii U consoles as they should. This means that the last thing they need is an injunction that would prevent them from selling the device in the US, which is one of their bigger markets. That and the fact that games like Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. are on their way to being released could really end up hurting the company if they are found guilty.