bit-gamer.net

Nintendo, Sony sued over wireless tech

Published on 24th February 2009 by Joe Martin

As well as naming the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, the lawsuit names Mario Kart and some Nokia phones.

Nintendo and Sony's handheld platforms are facing a patent dispute today as a company called Wall Wireless is claiming that it owns a patent that covers the wireless technologies used by the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable, as well as some Nokia mobile phones.

Wall Wireless is looking to take Nintendo and Sony to court specifically, claiming that the company has suffered "monetary damages that are compensable ... by no less than a reasonable royalty."

According to Edge, Wall Wireless' lawsuit names the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Mario Kart, WipeOut Pulse and Reset Generation, as well as a number of N-series Nokia phones, directly.

The 2003 patent that Wall Wireless is laying claim to is the vaguest patent we've ever seen by the way. Supposedly it entitles Wall Wireless to a patent over the ""Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet."

Above anything else though, one question that hasn't been cleared up as far as we can see is why it's taken Wall Wireless six years to bring the case to court.

Does Wall Wireless stand a chance in the coming storm, or are Nintendo and Sony likely to quash this bug with barely a thought? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

11 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

ChaosDefinesOrder 24th February 2009, 12:16

six years and also asks the question why they haven't targeted media streamers (eg squeezebox - play/pause could be considered "interactive"), iPlayer, web browser games (eg Quake Live)

Patent trolls should be made to IMMEDIATELY produce a marketable product or should be made to pay the accused's legal fees AND the exact same cost there were asking for in damages.

_DTM2000_ 24th February 2009, 12:21

Err, doesn't that patent cover any sort of data streaming? I don't understand why only Nintendo and Sony are being targeted.
Surely a patent as vague as that will cover technologies patented by other companies. So Wall Wireless should be getting paid royalties by everyone + dog. But seen as I've never heard of them I guess they're not.

They really need to stop giving out patents for such vague applications. This is just a blatant money making scam.

kylew 24th February 2009, 12:29

Uhh, plus the DS was announced properly in 2003, it had obviously been in development for much longer.

This just stinks of patent trolling.

Psytek 24th February 2009, 12:54

You can't patent streaming... its a patent for a particular implementation, and without looking at the code employed on various platforms, we have no way of knowing whether or not nintendo or sony infringed it... which begs the question, how do wall wireless know? It's gotta be pretty difficult to decompile the code for the drivers on the DS and PSP.

whisperwolf 24th February 2009, 13:29

The patent is really bizarre, its as if it was written for two pieces of specific software for singing into a mobile phone or pressing buttons on a phone/pda to play an instrument over a wireless communication network, and has then been watered down to try and cover any form of pressing buttons over a wireless network. I'm more surprised they haven't gone after Guitar hero and Rock Star publications really.

proxess 24th February 2009, 13:42

vaguest patent we've ever seen

how many times have we seen this?

DXR_13KE 24th February 2009, 15:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaosDefinesOrder
six years and also asks the question why they haven't targeted media streamers (eg squeezebox - play/pause could be considered "interactive"), iPlayer, web browser games (eg Quake Live)

Patent trolls should be made to IMMEDIATELY produce a marketable product or should be made to pay the accused's legal fees AND the exact same cost there were asking for in damages.

K20 24th February 2009, 16:13

Would it have hurt you to have written "Nintendo and Sony sued over wireless tech(nology)" or would three more button presses have been too exhausting?

Cobalt 24th February 2009, 17:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by K20
Would it have hurt you to have written "Nintendo and Sony sued over wireless tech(nology)" or would three more button presses have been too exhausting?

No but it might raise the ire of a patent troll somewhere

WILD9 24th February 2009, 22:51

Im just serving you all with notice of intended prosecution for violating my new patent :

"Method and Apparatus for Reading and Replying to Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet."

Anyone want so settle for £100 cash before this turns nasty?

LordPyrinc 25th February 2009, 03:23

What kind of clowns do we have working in the patent approval office? This is ridiculous that someone actually approved this patent. What a waste of the judicial system's time.

I'm reminded of a TV commercial here in the states for a company called "Drive Time" (or something like that). This guy is sitting in a cube with a big stamp slamming it down on paper saying "Approved. Approved. Approved. Approved. Approved. Approved.".... well you get the point.