Anascape, Ltd. v. Microsoft Corporation and Nintendo of America, Inc.

Anascape, Ltd.

In May 2008, attorneys from McKool Smith secured a jury verdict for Texas-based Anascape, Ltd. over Nintendo of America, Inc. in a complex patent infringement case involving video game controller technology.  The verdict was handed down less than twenty months after the filing of the lawsuit.  McKool Smith attorneys, led by firm principal Douglas Cawley, successfully tried the case over two weeks to a jury in the Eastern District of Texas.  The jury found that Nintendo infringed all of the asserted claims of Anascape’s patent and found that the patent was not invalid.  Nintendo is one of the largest suppliers of game controllers and related equipment in the multi-billion-dollar video game industry.

Anascape reached a confidential settlement and license agreement with defendant Microsoft Corporation on the eve of trial.  

The patent-in-suit, U.S. Patent No. 6,906,700 covers certain novel and improved features of video game controller technology. 

Following the jury’s verdict against Nintendo, the Honorable Judge Ron Clark conducted a bench trial of Nintendo’s inequitable conduct claim, and sided with Anascape, ruling that the patent was not unenforceable.  After a post-trial hearing, Judge Clark enjoined Nintendo from selling its infringing video game controllers, a significant victory for Anascape in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ebay v. MercExchange.  The injunction is stayed pending Nintendo’s appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.   

McKool Smith attorneys successfully responded to various summary judgment, judgment as a matter of law, and new trial motions filed by Nintendo.  The McKool Smith team included firm principal and lead counsel Doug Cawley, firm principals Sam Baxter and Ted Stevenson, and firm associates Chris Bovenkamp, Steven Callahan, Jason Cassady, Anthony Garza, and Jamie Shouse.  Also representing Anascape were Judge Robert Parker (retired) and Chris Bunt from the law firm Parker, Bunt & Ainsworth. 

The case is now on appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  McKool Smith is handling the appeal on Anascape’s behalf.