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Physical therapist claims invention of Wii Fit, demands €22 million from Nintendo

C

ComputerMKII

Banned
Sorry for the mediocre translation...

Source: http://www.pcinpact.com/news/82016-une-retraitee-75-ans-revendique-etre-a-origine-wii-fit.htm

Retired woman, 75 years-old, claims to be the origin of Wii Fit
And demands 22 million euros from Nintendo

In September 1985, Nicole, a physical therapist from Orléans, France, developed a tray for physical exercise to help "find balance." According to her, this machine has very similar properties to the Nintendo Wii Fit and intends to seek reparations from the Japanese manufacturer - about 20 million euros.

Nicole Walthert, a physiotherapist, aged 75 and now retired, threatens Nintendo with a lawsuit for infringement of one of her patents. Indeed, it was invented in 1985 a "sporting tray", accompanied by a booklet of exercises to work on one's balance. Her invention even caught the attention of the jury of the Concours Lépine (a French invention contest), who rewarded her in May 1986.

The first prototype, called Bull-Test consists of a tray, springs and several spirit levels, and sold about 2,000 copies. It was improved in 2006, with the addition of electronic sensors to "record the weight, whether you're crouching or standing straight, arches curved or straight" says Nicole Walthertto our colleagues of newspaper Le Figaro. This second version was patented in the same year. The European Patent Office gave her a grant on July 1 this year, which will allow her to continue the legal proceedings she initiated in 2010 against Nintendo, in which she has already spent more than 50,000 euros.

According to the retired woman, the Nintendo Wii Fit, launched in 2008, includes many elements from her nvention, although she admits that it does not use springs, unlike the product now called Lift-Gym. If Madame Walthert admits she would have given her the patent to the manufacturer for "the price of a studio apartment" she now claims one euro per copy of Wii Fit sold worldwide, representing no less than 22 million euros. A tidy sum that will allow her to spend her last days free from need or want.

The case of this woman from Orléans is reminiscent of Seijiro Tomita, who sued Nintendo for similar offenses relating to glassless 3D display technology of the 3DS console. As a reminder, the Japanese giant was then sentenced to pay back $30.2 million in damages to the complainant, who requested 280 million.
Click to expand...
 
B

Broken Joystick

At least you can talk. Who are you?
Nintendo:
GWKbNLU.gif
 
B

BigDug13

Member
Geez. So now do you have to look around worldwide at every single patent office in every single country to see if any part of what you're designing (which I'm sure Nintendo wasn't copying something they saw from her invention) is infringing on some small part of what someone else created once upon a time in some other country?

That seems pretty ridiculous.

I should patent frivolous lawsuits.
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
BigDug13 said:
Geez. So now do you have to look around worldwide at every single patent office in every single country to see if any part of what you're designing (which I'm sure Nintendo wasn't copying something they saw from her invention) is infringing on some small part of what someone else created once upon a time in some other country?

That seems pretty ridiculous.

I should patent frivolous lawsuits.
Click to expand...
I have no idea if her claim is valid, but if you're worried about respecting the law of every country you're doing business in, you still have the possibility of not doing business in that country. Also, The European patent office isn't just some small patent office in some unknown country.
 
P

PhoenixDawn

Member
It doesn't even use the same technology as her invention, I don't see much of a case. It sounds like they accomplish relatively the same end result, but with pretty dramatically different technologies/methods.
 
B

BigDug13

Member
ComputerMKII said:
I have no idea if her claim is valid, but if you're worried about respecting the law of every country you're doing business in, you still have the possibility of not doing business in that country. Also, The European patent office isn't just some small patent office in some unknown country.
Click to expand...

Was this consolidated after the formation of the EU? What happened to patents in separate countries that were for the same thing?
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
BigDug13 said:
Was this consolidated after the formation of the EU? What happened to patents in separate countries that were for the same thing?
Click to expand...

According to Wikipedia, the EPO was created in the late 1970s. You can file a patent on the national level or on the european level, depending on your goals and your finances (I guess getting a European patent is more expensive)
 
T

ThreePiMatt

Member
Didn't Miyamoto (or someone) specifically cite the way sumo wrestlers were weighed by standing on two seperate scales as the inspiration for the Wii Fit?
 
C

Cosmo Clock 21

Banned
The fact that she even admits the Wii Fit board doesn't use springs unlike hers should be enough to dismiss this case. You patent implementations, not ideas.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Elfteiroh said:
Seriously?? ... That case is even more hopeless for her then... How could Nintendo buy her patent or something if it wasn't even a thing back then... u_u
Click to expand...

Patent Pending is a thing.

You create say, a flying car.

Apply for a patent using a full description and or example. That pending patent has merit and weight and is usually given a patent number.

So when someone else builds a flying car in the intervening period, your patent is actionable once granted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_pending

This is logical given how long it can take a patent to be granted. And the rule, not the exception.
 
T

Tripon

Member
Stinkles said:
Patent Pending is a thing.

You create say, a flying car.

Apply for a patent using a full description and or example. That pending patent has merit and weight and is usually given a patent number.

So when someone else builds a flying car in the intervening period, your patent is actionable once granted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_pending

This is logical given how long it can take a patent to be granted. And the rule, not the exception.
Click to expand...

Except, I'm sure Nintendo has a patent of their own for the Wii Fit board. You can't patent the same product.
 
K

Kater

Banned
In the end all I can see here for now is "Old Lady wants some quick cash".

Interested to see where this is going, keep us updated, OP.
 
D

Discobird

Member
BigDug13 said:
Geez. So now do you have to look around worldwide at every single patent office in every single country to see if any part of what you're designing (which I'm sure Nintendo wasn't copying something they saw from her invention) is infringing on some small part of what someone else created once upon a time in some other country?

That seems pretty ridiculous.
Click to expand...

If you want to make or sell a product in a country then you run the risk of IP infringement in that country, yes--how could it be otherwise, if IP laws are to mean anything? I'm not saying patent laws couldn't use some reform, but what would be the alternative? Should patents be straight-up unenforceable for the sake of business convenience? Note that there is no global patent office yet.

That said, many companies rationally decide that it's not worth the cost of doing a freedom-to-operate search in every single country and will take a calculated risk of selling in those countries anyway. It's a cost of doing business.

Cosmo Clock 21 said:
The fact that she even admits the Wii Fit board doesn't use springs unlike hers should be enough to dismiss this case. You patent implementations, not ideas.
Click to expand...

Your general principle is correct, kudos for not falling into the common misconception that patents cover "ideas." But if you interpreted every patent literally that would make it trivially easy to work around them. The US has a rule called the doctrine of equivalents under which a patent claim will be deemed to "read on" (cover) things that may not have exactly the same elements as the claimed invention, but which have corresponding elements that perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way with substantially the same results. The doctrine doesn't apply to the invention as a whole, just the particular elements within a claim. I'm not a French lawyer but I understand France has a similar doctrine.

If her patent claims all recited a literal "board with springs" then she may be out of luck. If her patent attorney was smarter and drafted the claim as a "board with weight-measuring means" or something like that then the lack of springs in the Wii fit won't hurt her, even if other parts of the patent use a board with springs as an example.

If this doctrine sounds OP to you, then keep in mind that the broader you make your claims, the bigger the chance that your patent has been anticipated or made obvious in light of previous inventions and is therefore invalid. There are also other rules in US patent law that require a minimum degree of specificity in the patent. I presume France has analogous rules.

Tripon said:
She filed it in 1985, and it expired, from what I understand. This is a patent on her latest invention.
Click to expand...

In the US you can file a continuation application that claims enhancements to the original invention and relates back to (inherits) the original invention's priority date. Prior to 1995, the continuation would have a fresh 17-year term, allowing the inventor to extend the life of his original patent. This was predictably abused by some inventors so the rule has changed (I think it's now 20 years from the issuance of the parent patent regardless of when the continuation is issued), but patents from before 1995 are still subject to the old rule. I assume the EPO has a similar rule or else this lawsuit wouldn't even get off the ground.

Disclaimer: it's been a while since I practiced IP law so my knowledge may be rusty.
 
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