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

Anascape, Ltd.

McKool Smith represented Anascape in a patent infringement claim against Microsoft and Nintendo based on the alleged infringement of patents covering various video game controllers, including Nintendo’s GameCube controller, GameCube Wavebird controller, Wii Classic controller and Wii Remote.  Microsoft settled for a confidential amount before the trial began.  At the conclusion of the two-week trial, the jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found that Nintendo infringed Anascape’s patent, and awarded Anascape a verdict that ranked by VerdictSearch in the top 100 verdicts of 2008.  The district court entered final judgment based on the jury verdict and entered and stayed pending appeal, a permanent injunction enjoining Nintendo from selling its Wii Classic controller, GameCube controller, and GameCube Wavebird wireless controller.  Finally, the Court ordered Nintendo to stop importing, making, or selling the infringing controllers in the United States, even though Anascape did not produce competing controllers that used the same patented technology.  This is one of very few injunctions entered in favor of a non-practicing patent holder after the landmark Supreme Court case of eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., which restricted the circumstances in which a patent holder may be entitled to an injunction.