Wireless Accessory
Retaining, LLC v. GameStop Corp.
No. 2:17-CV-167-RWS (N.D. Ga.
Aug. 9, 2017)
Fresh on the heels of Gamevice’s
lawsuit against Nintendo, which we discussed in a previous
post, Wireless
Accessory Retaining, LLC has filed suit against video game retailer GameStop for selling the Nintendo
Switch, which Wireless
Accessory Retaining alleges infringes U.S. Patent No. 8,472,658 to Singh (the “’658 Patent”).
The ’658 Patent generally relates to
a way to power wireless accessories using a “retainer port” defining an “accessory
retaining structure” with a “cavity
for retaining said retainable wireless accessory . . . by inserting said
conductive member of said retainable wireless accessory within said cavity, wherein
said conductive member of said retainable wireless accessory to enable flow of
charge such that the retainable wireless accessory can function by wirelessly
communicating with the hand-held.” Wireless
Accessory Retaining alleges that the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons, which may be powered by the Nintendo Switch tablet through a retaining structure, infringe this patent. The images below capture part of the infringement theory set out in the complaint.
We’re unsure why Wireless Accessory
Retaining sued GameStop but not Nintendo at this time. Based on the filed complaint and in USPTO
assignment records, Wireless Accessory Retaining is headquartered at a
residence in Georgia and is the assignee of a plurality of patents by the same
inventor, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Singh. And,
based on public sources, this appears to be Wireless Accessory Retaining’s
first lawsuit. One possible reason Gamestop was sued instead of Nintendo may be to secure Wireless Accessory Retaining's (apparently) preferred venue of Georgia in view of recent venue law changes, as it seems likely Nintendo will want to step in to protect their vendor.
Thanks to Kirk Sigmon for his help in preparing this article.
