The asserted patent involves technology used to create a “Human Movement Measurement System” comprising a hand-held tracking device in communication with a base station that can be used to create an interactive gaming experience, among other capabilities. Nintendo’s Wii video game system uses an interactive hand-held remote in communication with a base station to reproduce users’ movements on televisions and other display screens.

I will be interested to see how this one pans out. Honestly, Nintendo has made enough money off of the Wii that settling this case would be wise. The full press release is available here.

Yahoo reports that Nintendo of America has recently been ordered to pay $21 million in damages to developer Anascape for patent infringement.

The award is the result of a federal jury verdict in a suit filed by Anascape in 2006. In that suit, Anascape asserted claims against Microsoft and Nintendo for infringement on twelve of the company’s patents, including patents on a “Game controller with analog pressure sensor” and an “Analog Sensor with Snap-Through Tactile Feedback[.]”

Microsoft earlier settled the dispute with Anascape; the details of that settlement remain confidential.

Nintendo spokesman Charlie Scibetta said that the gaming giant will seek an appeal and expects a significant reduction in the award. Fortunately for Nintendo, the ultra-popular Wii controller — both the remote and nunchuck — were not found to infringe upon Anascape’s patents. However, the designs for the Wii Classic, WaveBird, and Gamecube controllers were all found to infringe upon Anascape’s patents.

LOP: Thanks for the tip, Adam!

Parallel Processing, a Newport Beach, Calif. branch of New Bedford, Mass.’s International Parallel Machines, has flipped Sony over and attacked its weak point for massive damage. According to a complaint filed by Parallel Processing in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sony’s Cell Processor, which is the main processor in its PLAYSTATION 3 video game console, infringes upon US Patent no. 5,056,000, a 1991 patent for “synchronized parallel processing with shared memory.”

Parallel Processing’s patent in question has never before been fully utilized in a consumer application because it was deemed too difficult to write applications that take full advantage of the processor, a complaint commonly heard around the PS3′s launch.¹ Instead, parallel processing technology prior to the introduction of the PS3 was generally only utilized in supercomputers.

Parallel Processing alleges that Sony’s introduction of the Cell Processor into the PLAYSTATION 3 has caused “irreparable harm” and, as a result, the company seeks damages, reimbursement of legal fees, interest, and “the impounding and destruction of all [Sony's] products that infringe the [patent].” (hyperlink added)

For more info, see: Destructoid
Next-Gen
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1. Other developers, however, have also alleged that the PS3 is far easier to work with than originally thought.