Nintendo settles Wii motion-sensing patent suit

As recent months have shown, patent litigation in the gaming industry can go either way. In June, Nintendo touted its win against Guardian Media Technologies, who sued the console maker over violations stemming from the Wii's DVD playback capabilities. Of course, considering the Wii doesn't have DVD playback capabilities, the court's decision was an easy one.

Nintendo found itself facing a different outcome late last week, however. Business news service Bloomberg reports this week that Nintendo has settled its patent litigation with Maryland-based Hillcrest Labs for an undisclosed sum. As part of the settlement, Nintendo did not admit fault in infringing upon Hillcrest's patents. Nintendo had not returned requests for comment on the settlement as of press time.

Hillcrest filed suit against the Wii maker in August 2008, claiming that the motion-sensing technology in Nintendo's console was in violation of one of its patents. Hillcrest petitioned the International Trade Commission to block the sale of Nintendo's Wii in the US, as well as to award unspecified monetary damages.

Hillcrest, which makes and licenses interactive media systems to consumer electronics companies, owns three patents related to "a handheld three-dimensional pointing device" and another on a "navigation interface display system that graphically organizes content for display on a television." The company also makes a motion-sensitive remote called The Loop, which Hillcrest says is protected by the patents at issue.