Nintendo loses 3DS tech infringement battle

A U.S. jury said this week that Nintendo infringed a retired Sony engineer's 3D display technology patent when it created its 3DS handheld. Inventor Seijiro Tomita originally filed the lawsuit on June 22, 2011 with his company Tomita Technologies, saying that the Japanese publishing giant used his glasses-free 3D tech without his proper licensing. Tomita claimed that numerous third parties had licensed the tech, but neither the Japanese or U.S. branches of Nintendo were qualified licensees. A federal jury in New York has now agreed with Tomita according to Reuters, and awarded the inventor $30.2 million in compensatory damages. Nintendo had stated that the 3DS does not use key aspects of Tomita's patent, but the jury eventually decided that Nintendo has used technology in its 3DS that Tomita developed.