Wii U banned by Philips for patent violation

Electronics manufacturer Philips is attempting to have the Wii U banned from sale in the US, after claiming it infringes several of the company’s patents.

Nintendo is alleged to have copied technologies that replicate a user’s real-life actions in-game.

A second infringement concerns user interfaces designed to be navigated by a pointing device (such as a Wii Remote).

“Philips has engaged in the field of applied electronics and has conducted research in areas relating to visual representation of spatial processes and to automatic processes,” the lawsuit reads.

“The present patents-in-suit stem from these fields of research and development and claims protection for an interactive system for which a user can remotely control devices in an intuitive manner. Such intuitive remote control mechanisms are used in present-day home video game consoles.”

Philips acknowledges that Nintendo has produced motion-controlled hardware since the beginning of the Wii generation, but claims it notified Nintendo of both patents back in November and December 2011.

The company is thus seeking a trial by jury, a ban on the sale of Wii U consoles and other infringing hardware, plus damages.