The Nintendo DS is able to communicate wirelessly. So can Sony’s PlayStation Portable. Which is a problem for Wall Wireless, a company that claims they own a patent for said technology.
So Wall – who believe that they have “suffered monetary damages that are compensable … by no less than a reasonable royalty” as a result of companies using “their” technology – are taking Nintendo, Sony and Nokia to court.
At the heart of their complaints lies U.S. patent 6,640,086, which Wall were granted in 2003, and has the catchy title “Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet.”
What does that mean, exactly? The patent explains that it “pertains … to methods and systems that allow an operator to distribute messages having aural or visual content that is generated by the operator using handheld apparatuses such as mobile telephones.”
Named in the suit are the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Nokia’s N81, N82, N93 and N95 phones and the games Mario Kart, WipeOut Pulse and Reset Generation, all handheld games that feature wireless multiplayer.
Wall Wireless, we’ll tell you what we tell every no-name company that crawls out of the woodwork to try and pinch a dollar or two from more legitimate, successful companies: best of luck.
K
February 24, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Again, another fine example of companies who are there just to grab money by patenting crap. It’s just like how Worlds.com patented the MMORPG and sued NCSoft because it created a few. One look at Worlds.com’s online game and you’ll be laughing. I’ve seen better graphics on an Amiga.
Report PermalinkMcTalon
February 24, 2009 at 5:35 PM
I’m going to patent a means of oxygenating the blood via a respiratory system utilizing what I call the “lungs”
There now I get to sue everybody too
Report Permalinksmudge
February 24, 2009 at 5:54 PM
Patent laws really need a “use-it-or-lose-it” clause, or to just ban patent trolling. I’m sick of crap like this.
Report PermalinkFirehawk41
February 24, 2009 at 5:55 PM
Kind of makes you wonder: if this were a legitimate claim, why the hell did it take them this long to make it?
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