Nintendo is being sued for copying elements of its Nintendo Switch console, allegedly infringing patents held by Gamevice. Gamevice, which designs clip-on controllers for mobile phones and tablets, has called for a complete sales ban of the popular console, as well as damages.
A court filing in California claims Nintendo’s sales of its successful Switch console have caused “damage and irreparable injury to Gamevice”.
Nintendo has reported unprecedented interest in its Switch console. More than 5 million of the devices have been sold to date, making it the fastest selling console in the company’s history. Nintendo has struggled to keep up with demand for the portable gaming device, which includes support for games such as Zelda.
Gamevice’s claims the design for Nintendo infringed its patents in the design for the “Joy-Con” controllers, which clip either side of the Switch’s main screen. Gamevice’s patent for a similar mobile gaming controller was originally granted in September 2015. It released its Wikipad tablet controller in 2013, which allowed tablets to slot into the console. It later released the Gamevice controller for smartphones in 2015.
As of May this year, Gamevice had raised $12.5 million (£9.6m) from Silicon Valley investors. The company, which was co-founded by Oculus VR executive Brendan Irbe, has hired leading Silicon Valley lawyers for its case.
“The Gamevice game controller is designed to work with both Apple and Samsung devices and includes a collection of traditional gaming controls, allowing gamers to play hundreds of video games on their smartphone and tablet devices,” the company said in its filing.
While Gamevice’s patent is for a “Combination Computing Device and Game Controller with Flexible Bridge Section”, the Nintendo Switch does not contain a “bridge” element between its two Joy-Cons. Gamevice’s suit alleges that the Switch itself acts as the structural bridge on the console.
Earlier this year, Nintendo beat expectations by posting first-quarter operating profits of 16.2 billion yen (£1.1bn), compared to a loss of 5.13 billion yen in the same period last year, largely boosted by interest in the Switch console. Sales bans have been threatened in the past in similar cases, with a recent attempt to ban sales of Huawei smartphones in the UK. Apple has previously attempted to enforce a US ban on the sale of Samsung phones over patent infringements.
