Nintendo to ‘Vigorously Defend’ Itself in ITC Investigation, It Says

Nintendo hasn’t had “an opportunity to respond to the complaint,” the spokesman said, and the commission hasn’t decided anything “on the merits of the case.” After a judge is assigned to preside over the investigation, Nintendo will “get the opportunity to present its case,” the spokesman said. He said his company “respects the intellectual property rights of other companies, and believes that none of its products infringes” on the Hillcrest patents cited.

Hillcrest filed complaints last month with the ITC in Washington, D.C., and a U.S. district court in Maryland. The Rockville, Md., technology company claimed Nintendo violated four pieces of Hillcrest’s intellectual property: U.S. Patent Nos. 7,158,118, 7,262,760, and 7,414,611 relating to a handheld 3-D pointing device, and U.S. Patent No. 7,139,983 relating to a navigation interface display system that graphically organizes content for display on a TV. Since 2001, Hillcrest has offered technology to allow consumers to interact with digital media on TVs using motion-control and pointing techniques, it said, adding that the company holds 29 patents in this area worldwide and has filed for more than 100 related patents. CE companies, not all publicly disclosed, have licensed Hillcrest’s technology for use in their products. Hillcrest said it had “great deal of respect for Nintendo and the Wii,” but believes “Nintendo was “in clear violation of its patents and has taken this action to protect its intellectual property rights.”

The ITC was asked by Hillcrest to issue an exclusion order and a cease and desist order to prevent NOA and Japan parent Nintendo from selling the Wii console and remote in the U.S., the ITC said in its statement Wednesday. The commission’s chief administrative law judge will assign the case to one of the ITC’s five administrative law judges, who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing. The ALJ will make an initial decision about whether Nintendo infringed. That’s subject to review by the commission, which will make a final decision “at the earliest practicable time,” it said. The commission said it plans within 45 days after starting the investigation to set a target date for finishing.

Nintendo recently was found to have infringed Anascape patents for vibration technology (CED May 16 p7). In July U.S. District Court Judge Ron Clark in Lufkin, Texas, put on hold an injunction covering Wii Classic Controllers, the GameCube controller and the GameCube Wavebird wireless controller in that case after Nintendo promised to appeal to the Federal Circuit (CED July 25 p4).

Separately, Hillcrest disclosed Thursday that Kodak is one of the latest companies to license its technology. Kodak is using Hillcrest’s motion-control technology, Freespace, and display software, HoME, in the new Kodak Theatre HD Player, shipping in the U.S. this month at $299.99. The device was announced by Kodak in July. But the manufacturer made no mention of Hillcrest technology then (CED July 11 p3). The set-top, which lets consumers display their personal videos and access Web-based content on a HDTV, uses Wi-Fi to deliver content stored on a PC to the home’s HDTV, Kodak said. The HD Player “will roll out in stages, with a market trial commencing in September 2008,” Kodak said. It said Best Buy, Amazon.com and Kodak.com will be the first sellers of the set-top in the U.S.

Hillcrest Thursday also announced the availability of a new option for its corporate customers. It combines HoME and Freespace in a high-end set-top-box that it said “enables developers to prototype and build digital media applications that can be controlled by pointing.” Previously, companies including Logitech licensed HoME and Freespace separately and then developed products using their own hardware, Hillcrest said. With the Home Reference Kit, corporate customers can buy hardware assembled, with HoME and Freespace software embedded, to create new products, it said.