The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has ruled in favor of Nintendo against Gamevice’s patent suit. However, Gamevice continues its patent claims against Nintendo as they reportedly file a second suit.
On March 10, PTAB published its decision over Gamevice’s 19 patent claim suit against Nintendo. Accordingly, the board ruled that patent claims under 119 are patentable.
The first patent claim suit is based on Nintendo’s Switch console that is, allegedly, oddly similar to Gamevice’s “attachable game controllers.”
Claim 1 of Gamevice’s 19 patent claims was independent, while the rest were dependent claims.
The board found Nintendo persuasive in presenting their case for all 19 patent claims.
According to the board’s decision, “Given Nintendo’s persuasive showing and Gamevice’s lack of response to that showing, we conclude that Nintendo also demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that dependent claims 2–10 and 13–21 are
unpatentable as obvious over the combined teachings of Willner and Park.”
A second lawsuit against Nintendo
Weeks after the decision, Gamevice makes the headlines once again. Nintendo has infringed a Gamevice patent issued in August for a game controller.
Reports claim that the new patent-infringement complaint was filed at the U.S International Trade Commission in Washington on March 27.
Gamevice is reportedly appealing to “block imports of the Nintendo Switch console and Joy-Con controllers made in Asia.”
Allegedly, it will take ITC 15-18 months to issue a final decision, should it pursue to investigate the complaints filed by Gamevice.
This new lawsuit is separate from the appeal Gamevice makes simultaneously, by PTAB’s decision.
Nintendo Switch import threatened
Should Gamevice be successful in its legal suit against Nintendo, this may prevent the sale of the Switch console in the U.S.
It is important to note that Nintendo Switch is being shipped from Japan, and by being blocked, this could mean that the well-loved console may no longer be made available in the US market.
Nintendo Switch is currently in demand right now, considering the worldwide lockdown. Gaming enthusiasts sold out the game console on its official US website.
Unfortunately, the supply for the console is a bit low to keep up with the spiked demand, due to logistic constraints.
Nintendo Switch Fans are Furious With Gamevice Over Patent Infringement Claimhttps://t.co/HzAJWXGSfB pic.twitter.com/K1LGIsYIeR
— WWG (@WWG) April 6, 2020
Reports of blocking the US import of the said console angered many of the company’s avid patrons. Many have taken it to the social media platforms to air out their grievances against Gamevice.
Nevertheless, the second lawsuit is still far being underway.
Images courtesy of Kevin Kenson/YouTube Screenshot