Like other major companies, Nintendo has faced plenty of legal troubles over the years, but the latest lawsuit from Gamevice might just be the strangest. For the second time in three years, the peripheral developer is suing Nintendo for patent infringement. Gamevice claims the Nintendo Switch is too similar to its product the Wikipad.
Back in 2017, Gamevice sued Nintendo claiming the Switch’s Joy-Con violated a patent related to the Wikipad, an Android-based tablet gaming system the company released in 2013. According to Gamevice, the Switch copies the Wikipad's detachable controller and a “flexible bridge section,” causing irreversible damage and injury to the company. The peripheral developer demanded compensation and the halt of Switch sales in the United States.
To no one’s surprise, Gamevice’s lawsuit was dismissed shortly after it began. The mobile accessory manufacturer decided to do a follow-up investigation, but lost that as well just last month when US Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled that the minor similarities between the consoles wasn’t enough to warrant infringement. This did little to diminish Gamevice’s determination, though, and it filed yet another lawsuit against Nintendo for basically the same thing this week.
Once again, Gamevice wants to ban the import of the Nintendo Switch into the United States, a crazy idea considering the Switch is a massive success that has sold over 17 million units in the U.S. alone. What makes this even wilder is the fact that the Wikipad is no longer in production, so it's not even in competition with Nintendo anymore. Of course, none of this seems to faze Gamevice as the company continues to accuse Nintendo of stealing its ideas.
Considering the lawsuit was already thrown out of court once, it's likely this one won't go in Gamevice’s favor either. In fact, there is a good chance all these legal issues will hurt the company in the long run. As one of the giants of the gaming industry, Nintendo has the resources the fight this lawsuit, something a smaller company like Gamevice probably lacks.
Additionally, as one of the industry's most beloved companies, Nintendo's fans likely won't forget these frivolous lawsuits anytime soon. Gamevice's continued attacks on Nintendo will, likely, only hurt Gamevice's image and cause gamers to avoid its products. Many gamers are already under the impression that Gamevice is only suing Nintendo in hopes of making a quick buck or grabbing attention, and very few even knew what Gamevice was until this debacle began.
While we don't yet know for sure how this lawsuit will turn out, the damage to Gamevice may already be done. The fact that it has already failed once and nothing has actually changed in the interim makes it doubtful that the small peripheral developer will get its way. The more Gamevice attacks the legendary company, the more people will take this see the lawsuit as a sham. And the last place a small video game business wants to be is on video game fans’ bad side.