Jury finds Nintendo liable for 3DS tech patent infringement

A federal jury has found Nintendo guilty of patent infringement relating to the glasses-free stereoscopic 3D tech used in 3DS devices.

Reuters reports the ruling against the company could result in a $30.2m payout to the patent holder, inventor and former Sony employee Seijiro Tomita.

Tomita’s attorney stated the inventor demonstrated his 3D prototype for Nintendo executives in 2003, while the patent was still pending. Nintendo’s legal team argued that the 3DS doesn’t use "key aspects" of Tomita’s patent.

In response to the result, a Nintendo rep offered the following statement to Polygon:

A jury awarded $30.2 million in damages to Tomita Technologies in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Tomita against Nintendo. The Tomita patent did not relate to the 3D games playable on the Nintendo 3DS. The trial was held in U.S. District Court in New York before Judge Jed Rakoff.”

Nintendo is confident that the result will be set aside. The jury’s verdict will not impact Nintendo’s continued sales in the United States of its highly acclaimed line of video game hardware, software and accessories, including the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others.”