At the start of April, peripherals manufacturer Gamevice filed a new patent-infringement complaint against Nintendo and appealed the case it previously lost. While some people thought this was a joke, given the timing of the news, we can assure you it's not.
In fact, Gamevice's ongoing patent war against Nintendo and the Switch appears to be back on track – well, kind of.
Engadget reports the International Trade Commission has decided to move forward with an "evidentiary hearing" after Gamevice requested the ITC to issue a "limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order" against the Switch.
It's quite a shock that it's all happening again so soon, especially when the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled Gamevice's controllers "unpatentable" in March. Although the Patent Trial and Appeal Board cleared all 19 claims against Nintendo, obviously the ITC believes it's worth taking another look at.
[source engadget.com, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 64
So, you have chosen bankruptcy.
go away gamevice
Dear ITC.
If it was anything remotely like the Switch, I would have been interested in buying it.
The defence rests your honour.
Regards.
Lol... they’re gonna get slaughtered in court!
What a bunch of flabby, deluded fools...
I look forward to seeing those cretins go out of business...
Their products probably aren’t selling so are looking at other ways to make some money...
Round two it is.
Weren't these guys going bankrupt?
Why because the Switch has detachable controllers like most console's in history? They can't even be used with the same products or games either not to mention Gamevice's design itself copies everything innovated by the likes of Nintendo and Sega in the first place. The sooner this lot go out of business the better
@Kalmaro “It would seem that they chose... Poorly.”
(Last crusade reference)
I feel like they just want to tell these guys in person at a hearing that "No, what. Dismissed."
They’ve clearly received bad legal advice from lawyers who are laughing all the way to the bank
This will be some good experience for Nintendo's new young intern lawyers.
Its like challenging Mike Tyson in round one and Mohammed Ali in round 2. Both are secured for a K.O.
I wish them the best of luck.
Maybe their analogue stick doesn't suck.
@Pigeon @RileyR Are you guys trolls or just that dumb? It was said to be unpatentable so there's absolutely no way they're gonna win.
Dear Gamevice,
Four-letter-worded regards,
Grand Upper —>Gamevice. Boom!
@TheAwesomeBowser i would say both to be fair but more troll than dumb. Why would you wish bad on a company that youve been a member of a fan site of since 2014?? Yeah that defenately a dumb troll.
How many times does Nintendo need to teach you this lesson Gamevice?
@TheAwesomeBowser
That @Pigeon troll, is one of those "Nintendo must go 3rd party" turds, so it's easy to ignore him.
The other dude is just mad at the drift thing.
@Pigeon Innovate - to make changes in something established by introducing new ideas.
Just in case you didn't know what it meant.
I wonder if Gamevice is running out of money or something?
@TheAwesomeBowser I don't think I'm dumb. But it's frustrating to see Nintendo get away with the drifting.
@RileyR I agree on the drifting thing, but the way it was worded made it seem like trolling. Sorry.
@Pigeon Plenty of salt in your diet I see.
@Pigeon Just because you suck at video games doesn’t mean you have to attack a company’s products
@Clintos it's called poor sportsmanship.
Oh come off it 😂😂. I don't want to see Nintendo getting sued neither but is a bit annoying to see people saying things like “screw Gamevice for this”- Nintendo are usually the first ones to fart out C&D’s (or flat out sue) individuals or small companies over far more trivial things than this and whenever that happens those same people criticising Gamevice right now are normally the first in line to start defending Nintendo for it (“its their legal right”, “they've got to protect their IP’s”, etc) . Don't get me wrong I also hope Nintendo wins this (which they most likely will) but lets not forget that despite creating some amazing games Nintendo are also certainly no angels in this regard.
@SwitchForce 😆 I’m also curious, considering the username do you make YouTube videos?
@MrDannyB Yeah, that's worth a like. Gamevice are doing nothing every other company wouldn't do.
@MrDannyB I don't like it when Nintendo does it to others, and I also don't like it when others do it to Nintendo. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, and in general I'd say the whole world needs to stop being so lawsuit-happy. Both corporations and individuals will sue or file infringements over ANYTHING these days.
@TheLightSpirit They certainly live up to their name in terms of their intellect.
Dirty legal stunts... People who don't even know the products they're defending and prosecuting holding the sword of Damocles over good companies heads.
They don't care one iota for others. Only their own individual profit as a human... Selfish, underhanded little Sh*ts.
im so hoping nintendo wins and bankrupts gamevice for good.
@Anri02 more likely gamevice is running out of intelligence.
@Pigeon you sir are an idiot.
Aren't their controllers meant to go on mobile phones? The switch isn't a mobile phone so how would this apply?
And also, the switch evolved from the Wii U tablet so they came up with this concept since back then.
@Pigeon I know you are trolling but a Prototype for a WiiU gamepad was two wiimotes hooked up to a screen, thus showing prior art which would invalidate the patent.
@MrDannyB thankful someone said it. I love Nintendo and their products. Also own a Gamevice for my last phone. All decent products. And I can't personally forget that Nintendo are the first ones to call the legal team when they get a whiff of something that don't like. Or claim the rights to the revenue on a YouTube channel if it so much as uses a clip from one of their games.
@RPGamer Switch definitely wasn't "original", since the Aikun Morphus x300, Razer Edge Pro, Wikipad and a few others basically did the same "Switch" idea before the Switch.
The basic concept of the Switch is that it's a tablet, which you can connect detachable controllers to the sides of, and turn in to a handheld gaming console. Then, the "Switch" part is that you can also dock the tablet, detach the controllers, and use it on a TV screen for a console experience. Literally, those 3 aforementioned devices did just that; you could detach the side controllers from each of those devices, dock the tablet part to a TV and use each device like a console and also as a handheld.
And conceptually, all of that, was completely different to how the Wii U functioned; the Wii U GamePad didn't contain the actual specs of the system; ostensibly the Wii U was a rip off of Sony's PSP to PS3 remote play.
Looking forward to seeing Gamevice lose again! Didn't have a case before, sure don't have one now.
@NoNoseNosferatu I dont. Their employees don't deserve to lose their jobs.
@Jester151 no one agrees with you there, sunshine. It’s a crap company and should go by way of the Dodo Bird.
@NoNoseNosferatu I do.
Just because a company does something I disagree with doesn't mean I want them to go bankrupt.
There's a lot of people working for any company who are not responsible for said company's policies, and they sure as hell don't deserve to lose their job just because you disagree with their bosses.
Between this and EA (which I despise, by the way), you seem pretty trigger happy, and that's pretty childish.
Just like companies are not your friends, their employees are not your enemies.
@clvr I really couldn’t care less, boo. It’s a terrible company and deserves to rot in the dirt. Their employees can go find work elsewhere or rot like the rest of the sodding company and their terrible products can blister in the hot sun.
@NoNoseNosferatu wow, just wow.
If you care so much about hating a company that you actively wish people would lose their source of income and a way to keep their families afloat, you're just a spoiled brat and a terrible person, plain and simple.
@Clintos your the second person on here to mention that. No.
For someone whom already lost Patent Ruling your asking for trouble in return.
Here's why they are loosing track:
the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled Gamevice's controllers "unpatentable" in March. Although the Patent Trial and Appeal Board cleared all 19 claims against Nintendo
All whom is winning is their own Lawyers.
@graysoncharles Don’t give a toss; the company gips people of their hard earned money and preys on other people’s patents for profit. They don’t deserve an ounce of pity.
This is just...such an obvious grift. If this happens, then the first console to have wired controllers (that system that hooked up to your tv and only played Pong, IIRC) can sue everyone from Atari up to Microsoft and Sony for ever daring to have wired controllers that hook into a console. This is a bankrupt company, looking for any form of rescue that doesn't require, ya know... innovation.
Sometimes people don't learn until you beat the s*** out of them.
Gamevice will have to learn the hard way, I guess.
At this point this is a publicity stunt and nothing more
This way anyone with a switch And in the gaming world in general hear about them an can consider picking up a their product
The Joycons always get in my way when I try to make a phonecall with my Nintendo Switch.
@graysoncharles- seeing you side with such a loathsome company and their slimy, predatory tactics speaks volumes of your terrible alliances. You won’t be missed, bye Felicia.
@Tantani Actually to me it's 100% the opposite. Gamevice makes controllers for iPhones. When I they started these stupid lawsuits against Nintendo I was looking to buy one of their controllers. However I stopped doing that once I read about it. I would have bought one of their controllers otherwise.
Gamevice has to know they don't have a chance of winning. This is all likely just an attempt to get knowledge of their product out there without paying for advertising. In light of these lawsuits, I'm less likely to ever purchase their cell phone controller thingy.
@Stouticus the first time could be seen as that attempt of being noticed, but now it just feels like they're too deluded with themselves, thinking they are real victims.
@Saro maybe. Who knows what really goes on in the minds of the clinically insane : /
@NoNoseNosferatu "grow up", said the guy who can't distinguish between basic human empathy and "siding with a loathsome company". 😂
Get out of that basement of yours and socialize a bit, will ya?
This is a joke, some desperate company trying to cash in on a hopeless case.
Are they seriously that crazy? Who made the abxy buttons and the dpad and who made the analog sticks popular and rumble (doubt this has rumble but I don’t want to find out). Terrible idea to lawsuit Nintendo for control patents when they use almost identical buttons to the Wii u gamepad
@Averagewriter My bad sorry
Seems like the only way they plan on staying in business rather that making products other people like is buy by trying to sue people and make it that way.
I realize the possibility (even probability?) that Gamevice's bid to kick Switch out of the US is not intended to actually kick Switch out of the country after all, but just to leverage the ability to do so as a playing card to get them more favorable terms at the negotiation table in allowing them to stay. So I'll just get that little caveat out of the way. The rest of what I am about to say factors out this contingency.
Now, assuming that they really are out to kick Nintendo out of the country....and they succeed? Why, I can't think of a single worse fate for Gamevice.
Right now, they are a pretty small time brand that only so many people even know about, and even fewer actually care about, who makes products that are only interesting to a niche audience. If they actually do succeed in driving out the Switch, what will they achieve for themselves but to become one the most hated companies in video gaming, earn legions of haters who boycott their products on principle, and encourage / evangelize others to do the same, and find themselves blacklisted out of existence. Should they win the battle, that very act of winning the battle in and of itself shall become the direct cause of their losing the war, as people, in addition to blacklisting Gamevice, will find workarounds to get their Switches and games, and at the very, VERY least, Nintendo will be around next generation with something big that doesn't beholden them to Gamevice.
I cannot escape the parallels here between Gamevice / Nintendo and Captain Ahab / Moby Dick, hell bent on plunging his harpoon into that great, terrible eye. He did...and it cost him everything. Best case scenario, he and his men drowned at sea. Even more disturbing - the possibility that their bodies (dead or still living) actually ended up feeding, nourishing, and CONTINUING the very beast he wasted everything to END, turning the ultimate victory into the ultimate defeat.
I realize that the odds of Gamevice actually succeeding here are relatively modest to begin with, and thank the universe for that! But should they actually succeed in plucking out the eye of the great red whale with that tiny, tiny harpoon of theirs....then gamerdom will never forget, and never forgive, and Gamevice will get their headlines, just as Mr. Ismay did on the day the Titanic sank. They will trade obscurity for infamy, and if that moment in the spotlight really is worth it to them....well, then I sure hope they have alternate sources of income lined up.
Lastly, what about me personally? Well, so far, they haven't made anything particularly interesting to me, so it's moot. But I am on "temporary boycott" with them while this all plays out. If they lose, or even better, if they simply relent, then should they ever do release anything that catches my eye, I would at least be willing to consider it. But if they win, I will never give them a penny of my money, nor a second of my time. They will be dead to me, irrevocably....as I'm sure they will be to so many others.
Let's hope level heads prevail, and no petty businesses go under, harpooning for that terrible eye.
Cheers!
Tap here to load 64 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...