Although inventor Seijiro Tomita (Tomita Technologies USA) had previously been awarded $30.2 million in a patent infringement claim against Nintendo, an American judge has told Tomita to take $15.1 million after a new damages trial.
According to Federal Judge Rakoff, the originally awarded amount was “intrinsically excessive… and unsupported by the evidence presented at trial.” Rakoff also stated that the Nintendo 3DS doesn’t appear to be profitable—according to evidence from the trial—and that the majority of games don’t use Tomita’s patented “Glasses-Free 3D Technology” in any way.
That said, Nintendo’s requests to overturn the original verdict entirely, or be granted a new liability trial, were shut down.
After the hearing in which the payout was adjusted, Nintendo spokesperson Charlie Scibetta said:
“Nintendo respects the intellectual property rights of other companies and is confident that none of its products infringes the asserted patent. Nintendo will appeal the jury’s verdict and reduced damages award to the court of appeals.”
As for Tomita, he’s still reviewing the decision and hasn’t yet publically commented on the outcome. He has to decide by August 23rd whether to take the halved damages or pursue further legal action, though regardless of his decision, it sounds like Nintendo plans to take further action on their own.
