Both Nintendo and Sony are being sued by Copper Innovations Group, claiming that both companies current controllers are infringing on a patent filed by the company in 1996.

Copper Innovations Group originally filed for Patent number 5,640,152 in 1996. The patent claims rights to a “method for remotely controlling a function of a computer monitor or other equipment in response to transmissions from less than all of a plurality of transmitters remote from said equipment”. To make this simple for everyone to understand: Copper Innovations Group claims patent over a way to sort the different inputs from different wireless items that send signals into a single receiver.

According to their 2007 lawsuit against Nintendo and Sony, Copper Innovations Group claims the technology used to connect both Sony’s SIXAXIS controller and Blu-Ray Remote, as well as Nintendo’s Wii-Mote and Nunchuk to their respective consoles violates their patent.

Strangely, Microsoft was not named in the lawsuit. This may have to do with the fact that Sony and Nintendo’s controllers are both reliant on Bluetooth, as well as being motion controlled. The Xbox 360’s controller is neither, as it still relies on infrared.

Copper Innovations Group is demanding financial damages, legal fees and interest as well as an injunction that would prohibit both Sony and Nintendo from further infringing on their patent.

Does this news slow Sony’s momentum going into the new year? After all, Sony just recently settled a drawn out lawsuit with Immersion over rumble technology which has allowed Sony to finally bring us the long-awaited, long-desired DualShock 3 controller.

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Entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 8:17 pm under PS3, Peripherals, Wii.

Read more entries by James Walker.