Nintendo is being sued by Gamevice, yet another renowned gaming hardware maker. According to Gamevice’s claims, the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controller infringes on a patent it owns.
The complaint, Gamevice filled on Wednesday reads: “Nintendo has caused (…) and is continuing to cause irreparable injury to Gamevice”. The company demands that Nintendo must discontinue the Switch manufacturing and distribution and compensate it for the damages. The complaint does not say how much the damages would be worth.
In essence, Gamevice is suing Nintendo for violating the patent for concepts used in the Wikipad. The latter is an Android slate and Gamevice claims that the Joy-Con controllers Nintendo produces bear a striking resemblance to the vision it had for a detachable game controller and a device featuring a “flexible bridge section”.
The Switch uses two Joy-Con controllers that can be attached/ detached from mobile devices to allow portable gaming. The Gamevice product works in a similar way. It uses two detachable controllers compatible with Android and Apple devices. The player can control the games via buttons and joysticks instead of using the touchscreen.
The latest reports show that Nintendo has sold more than 4.5 million Switch units so far. The constantly growing demand for the console has led to serious supply shortages, but it has also helped the Japanese giant generate substantial revenue of ¥154 billion and an operating profit of ¥16.21 billion in Q1 of the financial year.
Now, when the complaint has been filed, the court is expected to issue summons to the defendants – Nintendo and Nintendo of America. At the time of writing, neither Nintendo nor Gamevice have publicly commented on the lawsuit.
