Jury Rules Nintendo Infringed On Patent With Nintendo 3DS Technology

A New York federal jury has ruled that Nintendo infringed on the patent of an inventor, Seijiro Tomita, pertaining to 3D display technology without the use of 3D glasses. Tomita sued Nintendo in 2011 for patent infringement because of their Nintendo 3DS system.

The jury, according to a Reuters report, has awarded the inventor Tomita $30.2 million in compensatory damages. Following the report, Kotaku reached out to Nintendo of America and received the following response:

A jury awarded $30.2 million in damages to Tomita Technologies in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Tomita against Nintendo. The Tomita patent did not relate to the 3D games playable on the Nintendo 3DS. The trial was held in U.S. District Court in New York before Judge Jed Rakoff.

 

Nintendo is confident that the result will be set aside. The jury’s verdict will not impact Nintendo’s continued sales in the United States of its highly acclaimed line of video game hardware, software and accessories, including the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others.

So, the 3DS is safe, but Nintendo might have to fork $30 million over. Ouch.