nintendo It came out on top after winning a 15-year lawsuit against BigBen Interactive over Wii controller patents. Back in June 2010, Nintendo filed a lawsuit in Germany against third-party accessory manufacturer BigBen Interactive, now known as Nacon. The suit alleged that certain Wii controllers sold by the company violated European patents covering key aspects of Nintendo's Wii Remote technology. The patent covers ergonomic design elements and sensor technology inherent to the Wii controller ecosystem.
In the complaint, Nintendo alleged that BigBen's third-party Wiimotes used its patented technology without permission, effectively taking profits away from official Nintendo hardware. Defendant BigBen countered that if consumers had not purchased the controllers, they would have purchased them from another third-party company. The argument aimed to reduce Nintendo's claimed damages by asserting that purchases would not necessarily have flowed back to Nintendo even without BigBen. Prior to the recent ruling, the case had already seen several rulings. In July 2011, a decision was made that BigBen was indeed guilty of the infringement, a finding supported by subsequent appeals over the years.
Nintendo patents character summoning system amid Palworld lawsuit
As the Palworld lawsuit continues, Nintendo has secured another broad patent that one expert says poses a threat to the entire video game industry.
Nintendo waited 15 years to win the lawsuit
On October 30, 2025, after 15 years of legal proceedings, the Mannheim District Court ruled that Nintendo should pay “less than 7 million euros”, or US$8.2 million, in total damages. This figure includes around €3 million in interest accrued since 2018 and legal costs. The ruling calculated damages under a lost profits theory, which presumed that without the infringement, Nintendo would have captured all of BigBen's controller sales. The court upheld this position after rejecting the defendant's argument that the consumer simply purchased another third-party product instead.
…Furthermore, hypothetical mitigating circumstances corresponding to third-party activities causing damage cannot be considered in favor of the infringer. – Bardehle Pagenberg Law Office
The decision marks a significant legal victory for Nintendo, but it's not necessarily the final chapter. BigBen reserves the right to appeal, and according to Nintendo's German legal team, the defendants have already begun taking such steps. This means the ultimate financial and legal outcome of this particular dispute remains fluid.
Nintendo has long had a reputation as a litigious company, staunchly protecting its patents and intellectual property. This battle, which lasted 15 years, is just one example. One of the most recent known examples is a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Nintendo against developer Pocketpair in September 2024. Nintendo, joining The Pokemon Company, claims that many of the game mechanics within the game are: Pal WorldIt mimics it closely, from creature summation to throwable Pal Spheres to creature mounting and movement systems. pokemon– Interactivity in style.
Nintendo is seeking an injunction to force the change. Pal Worldof mechanics and resulting in damages of approximately $65,000 USD. Pocketpair has refuted this claim on several fronts, claiming that the controversial system is original or existed in other games before Nintendo. Despite this, the developers have repeatedly changed: Pal WorldAt least temporarily, such as adjusting the gliding mechanic and removing the ability to summon a Pal Sphere by throwing it. The lawsuit ran into several issues, including the Japanese Patent Office rejecting Nintendo's patent in October 2025. The examiner listed several other games that used similar systems and stated that the company's invention was not novel enough.
The Japanese video game giant won another patent infringement lawsuit in Washington state in September 2025. This time it was a lawsuit against Ryan Daly, the operator of the website moddedhardware.com, which no longer exists. The lawsuit alleged that Daly knowingly sold devices with the intention of circumventing Switch DRM while also copying and selling pirated Nintendo games. After the modder appeared in court, the two parties agreed that Daly would pay Nintendo $2 million.
Source: Bardehle Pagenberg
