Nintendo To Be Paid $30M After Years-Long Patent Battle With Japanese Developer
Image via Shironeko Project
Almost four years after gaming giant Nintendo sued Japanese developer Colopl over patent infringement, the two companies have reached an agreement: in its statement released August 4, Colopl has revealed that it has agreed to pay Nintendo ¥3.3 billion (just over US$30 million) as a settlement for the lawsuit.
The game that came under fire by Nintendo was Shironeko Project (“White Cat Project”), a free-to-play action mobile game with touchscreen controls. In the original lawsuit, Nintendo claimed the game had infringed upon five of its patents, including the use of a joystick on a touchscreen.
Shironeko Project utilizes a ‘Punicon’ mechanic in the game, where players drag their finger across the screen before unleashing an attack with a tap. One of Nintendo’s qualms was that this was too similar to its patent for the Nintendo DS Wrist Strap, which was also a control reminiscent of a joystick. Shironeko Project thus changed this mechanic by the time February 2020 rolled around.
Earlier on in the year while the case was still ongoing, analyst Serkan Toto highlighted in a tweet that “Big N” had been further increasing its monetary demands from Colpol from the original US$42 million ask. It’s unclear why Nintendo has accepted a lower payment than the original, but it’s much better than the US$92 million it could’ve been.
Today, Colopl said Nintendo now wants more than double the sum of damages (now at US$92.6mn). https://t.co/WZJTCystun
— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) April 21, 2021
Colpol has indicated that as a result of the settlement, the company “recorded extraordinary losses in the third quarter of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021.”
白猫プロジェクトをお楽しみいただいている皆様へのメッセージを、ゲーム内に掲載させていただきました。
— 【公式】白猫プロジェクト (@wcat_project) August 4, 2021
これからも安心してプレイ頂けるよう運営一同尽力してまいりますので、宜しくお願いいたします。
詳細につきましては、本日付けのプレスリリース（https://t.co/wddd6oZpOz）をご確認ください。 pic.twitter.com/CMp6cfjik2
[via Kotaku, image via Shironeko Project]
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