Another day, another lawsuit. This time, a Texas company called Wall Wireless has accused several companies, including Nintendo, Sony and Nokia, of infringing on one of its patents pertaining to wireless communication. None of the accused companies have responded to the complaint just yet.
The patent, number 6,640,086 at the U.S. Patent Office, covers “methods and systems that allow an operator to distribute messages having aural or visual content that is generated by the operator using handheld apparatuses such as mobile telephones.” I think one problem with the patent office is that the language is so generic that damn near anything can be said to infringe someone else’s patent. “A device [eyes] used to collect reflected light, which is later interpreted by a centralized processor [brain].” Sue!
The patent was granted in 2003, and the lawsuit specifically targets the Sony PSP, Nintendo DS and several of the Nokia N series phones, such as the N95. Note that the PSP and DS came out several years ago, and only now is this Texas company filing lawsuits. Smart.
It’s a little early to call the lawsuit frivolous—who actually thought Immersion had a case against Sony a few years ago?