Nintendo Faces Suit over 3DS

Tomita Technologies USA LLC v. Nintendo Co. U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York Case No. 11-cv-04256, Filed June 22, 2011

A technology company based in Japan and the U.S. brought suit against Nintendo for allegedly infringing on their stereoscopic (3-D) patent with its new 3-D gaming system. According to the complaint, Tomita Technologies was founded by a former Sony engineer, who after retiring from Sony after 30 years, went on to research and invent nearly 70 patents, and over 100 patent applications, since 2002. Among these inventions is U.S. Patent No. 7,417,664 (the ‘664 patent) titled “Stereoscopic Image Picking Up and Display System Based upon Optical Axes Cross-Point Information.”

According to the complaint, the ‘664 patent deals with “technology relating to displaying stereoscopic images on-screen for viewing with the naked eye, i.e., without utilizing glasses or other devices.” Tomita alleges that Nintendo’s 3DS system, which launched in the U.S. in March, infringes on the ‘664 patent. The 3DS system allows for game play featuring real 3-D graphics, with no need for special glasses.

Report by Vibhanshu Vibhav