A U.S. judge declared on Wednesday that inventor Seijiro Tomita of Tomita Technologies USA should take $15.1 million in damages from Nintendo or risk losing it all in a new damages trial; this was half of what was previously awarded.
In the hearing, Nintendo was accused of infringing on a patent for Glasses-Free 3D technology; Tomita initially sued the company back in 2011 following the release of the 3DS. Federal Judge Rakoff stated, however, that the original award was “intrinsically excessive… and unsupported by the evidence presented at trial.”
Rakoff went on to state — based on evidence from the trial — that the Nintendo 3DS appears to not be profitable and the majority of games for the system do not make use of Tomita’s patented technology in any way. Nintendo’s requests to overturn the New York federal jury’s verdict or be granted a new liability trial were quashed by the Judge.
In a statement following the hearing Charlie Scibetta, a spokesperson for Nintendo, said the following:
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.
Seijiro Tomita is still reviewing the decision and failed to leave any comment. A decision on whether to accept the sliced reward or pursue further legal action must be reached by Tomita by 23rd August, though it seems Nintendo will take the matter further itself.
