Nintendo is being sued over the design and functions of the Nintendo Switch.
The Nintendo Switch lawsuit is being pushed forward by technology company Gamevice, known for their mobile gaming products and their Gaming Live service. Gamevice has claimed that the Switch's design and functionality violate the terms of a patent for one of their products, the Wikipad.
The Wikipad is touted as the portable gaming tablet for gamers and was originally released in 2013 by Gamevice. It originally touted as a 7-inch tablet with a $250 price tag.
The lawsuit by Gamevice claims that Nintendo has violated their patent rights for the design of the Wikipad. Specifically mentioned is the shape of the Switch itself being too similar to the Wikipad slate, and the removable Joy-Con controllers are too close to Gamevice's original vision of a detachable game controller. Per the suit, "Defendants have directly infringed and are currently directly infringing the '119 patent by making, using, selling, offering for sale, and/or importing into the United States, without authority, products and equipment that embody one or more claims of the '199 patent, including but not limited to the Nintendo Switch."
In essence, the functionality of the Switch and the Joy-Con controllers, according to the lawsuit, violate the patent for the Wikipad. The Wikipad Patent was filed in 2015 for their flexible bridge design. Nintendo filed several Patents for the Switch, including the hardware infrastructure and the various controller designs, that were all granted in later 2016.
Gamevice is requesting the courts to block the sale of the Switch, and for Nintendo to pay for damages due to the patent infringement.
Currently, Nintendo has not responded to the lawsuit publically.
What are your thoughts on the Nintendo Switch lawsuit overall? Do you think Gamevice actually has a case here? Leave your comments below.
