Nintendo wins lawsuit over Switch and Joy-Cons design

Nintendo has won a patent infringement lawsuit against Gamevice. It concerned the handheld console Switch and the accompanying Joy-Cons, with Gamevice believing that Nintendo had copied the design.

Gamevice filed the case because it believed that Nintendo infringed design patents that the company had on its own gaming tablet with the design of the Switch. In addition, Nintendo’s Joy-Cons allegedly infringe on a game controller that Gamevice has developed for smartphones and tablets.

The case went to the US patent office USPTO, which ultimately ruled, via a Termination Decision Document, that Nintendo did not infringe on Gamevice patents with its Switch and Joy-Cons. According to the US authorities, Nintendo uses a different way to attach its Joy-Cons to the Switch, and in addition, unlike Gamevice’s devices, wireless technology is used to connect to the console.

Previously, Gamevice had already tried to impose an import ban on Nintendo, so that the Switch could no longer be sold in the United States. The American authorities did not agree with this either.