Jury Orders Nintendo To Pay $10M Over Wii Patent Infringement

The Wii has officially been dead for years but this didn’t stop its ghost from biting Nintendo in the behind. A Dallas court jury recently ordered the Japanese video game giant to cough up $10 million after deciding that it committed patent infringements with the hit console. Nintendo is intent on appealing the decision.

The payout is a result of the jury siding with iLife Technologies in its lawsuit against Nintendo of America, Engadget reports, which actually dates back to 2013. According to the lawsuit, the video game company used iLife’s patented technologies to create the motion control in its Wii Remote.

Apparently, the motion-sensing technology was patented by the company in order to detect when elderly individuals suffer a fall or to prevent sudden infant death syndrome by monitoring babies. Initially, the lawsuit demanded $144 million from Nintendo, which amounts to $4 for every one of the 36 million Wii units sold before the lawsuit was filed.

In addition to the payout, iLife also wanted the court to issue an injunction, which would have effectively stopped the Wii from selling. It would seem that this part of the lawsuit was not granted. For its part, Nintendo is intent on fighting the verdict by filing an appeal, Rolling Stone reports.

"The jury awarded iLife $10 million in damages. Nintendo disagrees with the decision, as Nintendo does not infringe iLife’s patent and the patent is invalid. Nintendo looks forward to raising those issues with the district court and with the court of appeals," Nintendo’s statement to the publication reads.

It would seem that iLife is pretty happy with the decision, or rather, its legal team is. In a statement, Jamil Alibhai of Munck Wilson Mandala boasted how the verdict is proof of what he claims is his team’s commitment to excellence and an outstanding team effort."