Nintendo Under Investigation Over Switch Patent Infringement

Nintendo is stacking up all the cash thanks to very robust sales of the Switch game console. Nintendo has been hit with a US International Trade Commission investigation over the design of the controllers Nintendo uses on the Switch. Gamevice filed the complaint and the USITC is handling the case this time around reports Gamasutra.

Gamevice has sued Nintendo before and dropped the case. Gamevice is using the Tariff Act of 1930 and has requested a cease and desist order against Nintendo over patent infringements. The exact patents arent named by the allegations have to do with controllers that attach to two sides of an electronic device.

If Nintendo loses this investigation it could be forced to stop importing the Switch into the US. One of the hallmarks of the design of the Switch are the Joy-Con controllers that attach to each side of the tablet portion when in mobile mode.

The USITC does note that an investigation doesn’t mean that a complaint has merit. Gamevice’s controllers do look like the Switch controllers. At the end of the day, the worst thing that is likely to happen to Nintendo is being forced to shell out money to Gamevice to license the patents. That said, there are significant differences between the Gamevice controllers and what Nintendo uses on the Switch.