Nintendo Found Guilty of 3D Patent Infringement

A federal jury in New York in mid-March found that video game company Nintendo Co. infringed an inventor’s 3-D display technology patent with its handheld 3DS videogame system.

The jury awarded the inventor, Seijiro Tomita, $30.2 million in compensatory damages.

The patent relates to technology that Tomita developed for providing 3-D images without the need for 3-D glasses.

In opening arguments last month, Tomita’s attorney, Joe Diamante, told the jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that Nintendo used technology that Tomita developed for its 3DS. Tomita is a former longtime Sony Corp. employee.

But Scott Lindvall, a defense attorney for the Super Mario Bros franchise creator, argued that the 3DS doesn’t use key aspects of Tomita’s patent.

Lindvall also said a 2003 meeting with Nintendo officials that Tomita cited in his argument was merely one of several the company held with vendors selling 3-D display technology.

Tomita, 58, sued Nintendo and its U.S. unit in 2011 for patent infringement.

Lindvall declined to comment following the verdict. Nintendo officials were not immediately available for comment.