Nintendo victorious in Wii Balance Board patent suit

Nintendo's legal team has notched another victory today, as the company claimed victory in a United States patent suit related to the Wii Balance Board, Wii Fit, and Wii Fit Plus.

A Maryland US District Court judge has dismissed a patent infringement suit against the company brought by IA Labs in April 2010. Had the case proceeded further, it would have headed to a jury trial.

The suit claimed that the Wii Balance Board peripheral, as well as Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus, had infringed on US Patent No. 7,121,982. This patent was issued in 2006 for "Computer Interactive Isometric Exercise System and Method for Operatively Interconnecting the Exercise System to a Computer System for use as a Peripheral."

"We vigorously defend patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party's patent. We refuse to succumb to patent trolls," said Rick Flamm, Nintendo of America senior vice president of legal and general counsel.

IA Labs' 2010 patent suit also claimed that Nintendo infringed on US Patent No. 7,331,226. This patent was issued on February 19, 2008, for "Force Measurement System for an Isometric Exercise Device."

Concerning that case, a Nintendo representative told GameSpot, "IA Labs was no longer asserting the '226 patent against Nintendo. The Court's summary judgment ruling applied to the only patent remaining in the case."

IA Labs sought to have the court prevent the sale of all products that infringe on its products, as well as damages, attorney fees, and other court costs.