Nintendo Ordered to Pay $21 Million for Patent Infringement for Classic, Cube Controllers

Well, this certainly comes as a surprise. While it was little surprise that a company would wait until an innovative new product is on the market, and then sue over it, this one is a bit stranger.

See, this one actually involves a different company, one Anascape Ltd., and no infringement was found regarding the Wii Remote and Nunchuk; rather, the patent infringement was found to be on the Wii’s Classic controller, as well as the GameCube controller and its wireless Wavebird counterpart.

Unfortunately, no further details were provided on which infringements were found, as the original lawsuit covered a variety of features of the controllers, from tactile feedback to analog sensors and vibration control. Regardless, Nintendo spokesman Charlie Scibetta said they were looking to file an appeal, and expects the court to reduce the award “significantly.

In the meantime, attorneys for Anascape have not responded to requests for comment, while Microsoft, also named in the suit, reached an agreement with the company prior to proceedings against Nintendo, though the terms of the May 1st settlement remain confidential.