Link: https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/11/nintendo-faces-lawsuit-over-switch-controllers/
Accessory maker Gamevice believes Nintendo violated a patent for concepts used in the Wikipad.
The Wikipad never did great in sales as a product as it was later dropped for other add-ons for phones and tablets.
Here's a random video of the Wikipad which shows how it's a tablet that slides into a controller shell: https://youtu.be/DJMTJnoVNvI
Really? That? Did Gamevice not see the Aikun Morphus X300 which we knew about back in the NX days? https://youtu.be/sr8SbLgHkzI
Edit:
The Complaint link below shows what Gamevice claims Nintendo is violating.
Thank you Cert.in.Death for the summary:
Accessory maker Gamevice believes Nintendo violated a patent for concepts used in the Wikipad.
The Nintendo Switch certainly isn't the first gaming tablet, but is it directly riffing on others' ideas? Gamevice thinks so. The accessory maker is suing Nintendo for allegedly violating a patent for concepts used in the Wikipad, its gaming-oriented Android slate, as well as its namesake add-on controllers for phones and tablets. According to the suit, the Switch and its removable Joy-Con controllers are too close to Gamevice's vision of a combination of detachable game controller and a device with a "flexible bridge section." Not surprisingly, the lawsuit calls for both damages and a ban on Switch sales.
The Wikipad never did great in sales as a product as it was later dropped for other add-ons for phones and tablets.
In some ways, the lawsuit is an epilogue to a long-running story. The Wikipad team started out with grand plans for tablet gaming in 2012, when it promised elaborate features as glasses-free 3D and game streaming. However, it didn't work out that way: delays and a rethink prompted a change in design, and while the Wikipad did receive some acclaim, Gamevice eventually dropped it in favor of its add-ons for phones and tablets. Although Nintendo's Switch clearly has some differences (it's intended more as a hybrid TV and portable console, for one thing), it's effectively showing what could have been if the Wikipad had taken off.
Here's a random video of the Wikipad which shows how it's a tablet that slides into a controller shell: https://youtu.be/DJMTJnoVNvI
Really? That? Did Gamevice not see the Aikun Morphus X300 which we knew about back in the NX days? https://youtu.be/sr8SbLgHkzI
Edit:
The Complaint link below shows what Gamevice claims Nintendo is violating.
Thank you Cert.in.Death for the summary:
Patent 9126119
Complaint - GameVice v. Nintendo
Summary:
Nintendo has infringed on the claims of the '119 Patent, specifically Claim 1 and its pertinent subclaims, listed fully below:
A combination comprising:
- a computing device, the computing device providing a plurality of sides, each of the plurality of sides are disposed between an electronic display screen of the computing device and a back of the computing device;
- a communication port interacting with the computing device, the communication port providing a communication link and a pair of confinement structures, the pair of confinement structures adjacent to and confining the computing device on at least two opposing sides of the plurality of sides of the computing device;
- an input device attached to and in electronic communication with the communication port, the input device providing a pair of control modules, the pair of control modules providing input module apertures, each input module aperture secures an instructional input device, wherein said input module apertures are adjacent each of the at least two opposing sides of the plurality of sides of the computing device, and wherein the input device is a separate and distinct structure from the communication port, forming no structural portion of the communication port; and
- a structural bridge securing the pair of confinement structures one to the other, in which each of the pair of control modules provide an attachment structure cooperating with the communication port, each attachment structure secures the input device to the communication port, and in which the structural bridge comprising:
- a conduit between the pair of control modules; and a fastening mechanism cooperating with the pair of confinement structures, the fastening mechanism secures the pair of confinement structures one to the other.
Gamevice is seeking a permanent injunction barring sale of the Nintendo Switch (which, obviously, will be overridden by a Nintendo settlement payout) plus damages, attorneys fees, court costs, etc. (standard fare).