Ithaca Ventures k.s. et al. v. Nintendo
of America Inc. et al.
United States District Court, Western
District of Washington
2:14-cv-01512
Filed May 9, 2013
Terminated May 18, 2015
On May 18, 2015,
the lawsuit between Ithaca Ventures and Nintendo was dismissed with prejudice
subject to a settlement agreement.
In May 2013,
plaintiffs Ithaca Ventures k.s. and Ithaca Development, LLC filed suit for
patent infringement of U.S. Patent 6,624,802 against Nintendo of America Inc.
and Nintendo Co., Ltd. The case was originally filed in U.S. District Court for
the District of Delaware, and eventually transferred to the Western District of
Washington. The ‘802 patent is entitled “Method
And Device For Detecting Specific States Of Movement Of A User,” and relates to
detecting body movement to generate signals in a data processing system. The
patent was incorporated into the gaming device “Cybersurfer”. When approached
by plaintiffs to incorporate Cybersurfer into Nintendo gaming systems,
defendants claimed they were not interested.
Plaintiffs
alleged that the Nintendo Wii Balance Board infringed the ‘802 patent. The Wii
Balance Board detects one’s movement and position in related to the Wii gaming
system.
Ithaca’s
complaint alleged Nintendo’s Wii Balance Board peripherally infringed on Ithaca’s
‘802 patent. Ithaca withdrew the suit after a German court held that Nintendo’s
Wii Board did not infringe on the Ithaca patent.
