General view of the atmosphere at Nintendo 3DS exclusive launch event at Siren Studios on March 26, 2011 in Hollywood, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Chris Weeks)
A previous Nintendo 3DS patent dispute has been overturned recently by a federal court. The video game company will not have to pay $30.2 million for the compensatory damages.
The previous dispute made by former Sony inventor Seijiro Tomita against Nintendo has been overturned by federal judge Jed Rakoff recently. He ruled this week that the handheld console has not infringed a patent on 3D display technology as was claimed by Tomita Technologies in the past. The judge found that the handheld console had performed in a very different way than what Tomita claimed.
The previous court order by paying the other party for damages has now been revoked. According to Nintendo press's official website, the game company's litigation and compliance director Ajay Singh said in a statement that the company was happy with the court's decision
Singh discussed that they have a long history of developing new innovative products, and defending the patent lawsuits when needed. He added that they will defend their products, even if it takes many years to do so and through many trials.
In 2011, Tomita Technologies sued Nintendo for infringing on their patent that covered technology that was the same with the glasses-free stereoscopic 3D, which was a feature for Nintendo 3DS. The handheld console system used two cameras to see the world in 3D, which mimics the eyes of a human being. The complaint that was filed by Tomita Technologies did not give any details on how the handheld console system infringed the patent, but insisted the game company has done so to make the gaming device possible.
In 2013, a New York federal jury found that the game company infringed the patent and told them to pay the inventor for the damages, according to Reuters. The game company was confident that the result will be set aside at that time.
In 2014, the game company appealed to the court against the verdict, and they were successful in doing so. They pointed out that the judge had mistakenly interpreted the patent, which made the jury confused in their judgment. The patent dispute case was then sent back to the lower court.
Check out the Nintendo 3DS first reactions video below:
