March 16, 2010 - Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. have won a ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) stating that their video game systems do not infringe a Texas company's patent, which is related to the way newer joysticks connect to older computers.
The lawsuit, filed by Fenner Investments Ltd. of Richardson, Texas, claimed that Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's GameCube and Wii controllers infringed Fenner's patent. The patent, which was originally issued in 2001 to Lucent Technologies Inc., covered a way to ensure that a 5-volt joystick could work with older computer chips operating at lower power levels.
The case in the CAFC is Fenner Investments Ltd. v. Microsoft Corp., 2009-1496, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Washington).