Posted 08/22/08 at 03:03:48 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Rockville-based B2B firm Hillcrest Labs, which licenses its technologies to major CE companies, has filed a complaint against Nintendo with the U.S. International Trade Commission and a patent infringement suit in the U.S. District Court in Maryland. Hillcrest Labs alleges that the motion-sensitive Wii Remote and the console’s navigational interface display system are in violation of four of its patents. The company is praying for an embargo on the import of Nintendo Wii in the U.S. The Wii is so much fun that it would be a cardinal sin to even consider the possibility of it being banned anywhere. But the possibility exists as the jury is now quite literally out on the veracity of the allegations. Let’s see how this pans out.

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consumer electronics, nintendo wii, Patent Infringement, hillcrest labs, allegations, game console, import ban, law suit

Posted 07/24/08 at 09:07:43 AM by Chris Moody

Last year a company called Anascape brought a lawsuit against Nintendo and Microsoft, claiming the companies violated several of its patents on game controllers. Microsoft’s deep pockets settled the case for an undisclosed amount. Nintendo decided to continue the fight, but lost. A jury awarded Anascape $21 million in damages.. The judge has refused to give Nintendo a new trial and threatens to halt sales of GameCube controllers, Wavebirds, and Wii Classic controllers until Nintendo puts up the money or posts a bond so it can continue fighting.

With Sony losing a similar suit to Immersion and Microsoft caving in, it doesn’t look good for Nintendo to win its case.

ArsTechnica looked deeper into Anascape and its patents. They found that Anascape doesn't have a web site. All of its patents belong to Brad Armstrong of Carson City, Nevada. Searches for Anascape’s offices haven't turned up anything. Anascape's lawyer Doug Cawley claims that the company wants to enter the game controller business, but Nintendo has "clogged the market”.

What else did ArsTechnica find? Make the jump to see.

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microsoft, sony, nintendo, patent, Patent Infringement, game controllers, Anascape

Posted 07/05/08 at 01:55:26 PM by Paul Lilly

The battle between Adobe's Flash format and Microsoft's competing Silverlight software to deliver rich internet applications (RIAs, not to be confused with the RIAA, an entirely different beast in every sense of the word) to your browser may come down to which technology search engines are better able to index. Adobe recently announced a new initiative with Google and Yahoo towards making the Flash file format (SWF) more easily visible to each site's respective spiders, leaving Microsoft noticeably missing from the group pow-wow.

But one company is taking notice of Microsoft. Find out who it is and what they want after the jump.

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windows, microsoft, Software, Google, flash, Yahoo, legal, court, Silverlight, Patent Infringement, suit, Adoble, Gotuit Media

Posted 06/20/08 at 12:29:16 PM by Paul Lilly

Steady vibrations can spell doom for the delicate moving parts inside a hard drive, and for this reason HDD manufacturers employ several technologies aimed at reducing these menacing motions. One such technology involves "Shaping Command Inputs to Minimize Unwanted Dynamics," for which engineering company Convolve holds the patent. The technology can be used to limit vibrations of a hard drive's actuator arm, and according to a recent court complaint, Convolve believes Dell, Western Digital, and Hitachi are all infringing on its patent. Going for the legal hat trick, Convolve is suing for monetary damages, attorney fees, and compensatory damages.

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dell, Hard Drive, Western Digital, HDD, hitachi, legal, Patent Infringement