UK court rules against Nintendo in Wii patent battle

UPDATE 23/6/14 2.45pm Nintendo has said it is "committed" to ensuring the continued sale of the Wii, Wii U and Wii Remote after losing a court battle over two patents.

The designs were contested by electronics company Philips - which has previously said it wanted to get the Wii U banned from sale in the US over the issue.

As explained by Nintendo in a statement to Eurogamer today, the company plans to appeal the decision and pursue all legal avenues to ensure the Wii, Wii U and Wii Remote remain on shop shelves.

Nintendo's statement lies below in full.

"On 20th June 2014, following a trial heard before Mr Justice Birss, the UK Patents Court found that the Wii, Wii U and Wii Remote infringe two patents ('498 and '650) asserted against Nintendo by Philips Electronics," Nintendo explained. "The '498 and '650 patents were held to be invalid as originally granted, but Philips Electronics were permitted to make validating amendments during the course of the litigation.

"A further patent ('484) was asserted by Philips Electronics but was found to be invalid.

"Nintendo firmly believes that the amended '498 and '650 patents are invalid and intends to seek permission to appeal Mr Justice Birss' judgement.

"Philips Electronics has yet to make clear whether it intends to seek permission to appeal any part of the judgement.

"Nintendo is committed to ensuring that this judgement does not affect continued sales of its highly acclaimed line of video game hardware, software and accessories and will actively pursue all such legitimate steps as are necessary to avoid any interruptions to its business.

"Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others."

ORIGINAL STORY 20/6/14 3.55pm Nintendo has lost a long-running UK court battle over two Wii patents.

The ruling concerns technology for recognising hand gestures and motion, which electronics company Philips claimed back in 2011 infringed patents of its own.

But Nintendo won its fight for a third patent which was also in contention, Bloomberg reported, which regarded the modelling of a body in a virtual environment.

Nintendo has said it will appeal the decision against the first two patents, while potential damages will be decided at a hearing next month.

"Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others," the company said in a statement.

"Nintendo is committed to ensuring that this judgement does not affect continued sales of its highly acclaimed line of video game hardware, software and accessories and will actively pursue all such legitimate steps as are necessary to avoid any interruptions to its business."

Philips is currently pursuing its claim in a number of countries, and in May said it would attempt to get the Wii U banned from sale in the US as it also used technology based on the contested patents.

"We believe Nintendo infringed the patents and have tried to settle since 2011, but as that hasn't worked out we had to take this step," Philips spokesperson Bjorn Teuwsen explained today.

"This case relates to other cases in the US, Germany and France. It might help in those cases, but that's up to the local authorities in those countries."