Nintendo Wii Doesn't Infringe On DVD Playing/Parental Control Patent

from the good-news dept

Fri, Jun 12th 2009 3:38am — Mike Masnick

It's nice to see a patent lawsuit go in the right direction. A judge in LA has tossed out a patent infringement lawsuit against Nintendo concerning parental controls on DVD players. The only problem? The Wii doesn't play DVDs. Of course, Nintendo still faces a number of other patent infringement lawsuits, but at least this one was dealt with relatively quickly.

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Filed Under: dvds, parental controls, patents, wii
Companies: nintendo

27 Comments

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Noah Buddy, 12 Jun 2009 @ 5:28am

Frivolous?
I thought lawyers could get punished for filing frivolously. IMHO I think they need to up the punishment... electro-shock therapy anyone?
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technomage (profile), 12 Jun 2009 @ 5:53am

Re: Frivolous?
waste of electricity. Need something better.
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Rebel Freek (profile), 12 Jun 2009 @ 6:00am

Re: Re: Frivolous?
Rock rope and a place for them to tread water for hours?
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Dark Helmet (profile), 12 Jun 2009 @ 6:15am

Re: Re: Re: Frivolous?
Stabbing is pretty cheap, isn't it?
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Rebel Freek (profile), 12 Jun 2009 @ 7:00am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Frivolous?
Yes, but really messy...
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TripleDub (profile), 12 Jun 2009 @ 7:56am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Frivolous?
And its hard to keep them on the plastic sheeting.
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Janitor, 12 Jun 2009 @ 8:03am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Frivolous?
Yeah.. it takes days to clean up after them. Please keep the mess to a min.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 12 Jun 2009 @ 8:08am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Frivolous?
How about well placed rocksalt blasts to the crotch?
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2009 @ 8:41am

you could line them all up and try to use the same bullet
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Applesauce, 12 Jun 2009 @ 8:42am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Frivolous?
Make them clean up a golf range.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2009 @ 8:43am

Re: Frivolous?
It would be a big jump to show a completely frivolous filing.

If anything Mike, you should hold this story up as proof that the copyright / patent systems WORK, no?
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B, 12 Jun 2009 @ 8:46am

Re:
Have you seen the price of ammunition these days?
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MattP, 12 Jun 2009 @ 8:54am

Re: Re: Frivolous?
"It would be a big jump to show a completely frivolous filing."

Like functionality that blatantly doesn't exist in their product?
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zellamayzao, 12 Jun 2009 @ 8:57am

Very smart move on Nintendo's part not allowing their system to play dvd's. Though if it had the ability to play blue ray that would be one cheap blue ray player and they would have sold that many more systems. Even thought it took me quite a while to find one for my fiance.

Silly lawyers thinking oh Nintendo is a big international company and the Wii relies on discs to play games so it has to be infringing on something for movies....lets sue. sue sue sue sue. And they wonder where the nickname *sharks* came from
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2009 @ 10:23am

"The Wii doesn't play DVDs...."

....unless of course the user exercises their right to modify their Wii.
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Jason, 12 Jun 2009 @ 10:24am

Re:
Hey, I put in my name dadgummit! - Jason
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Rebel Freek (profile), 12 Jun 2009 @ 10:29am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Frivolous?
Live action Frogger on a Highway?
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Yakko Warner, 12 Jun 2009 @ 10:42am

What about the others?
So does this mean Sony and Microsoft are infringing? Are they being sued, or are they already licensing this patent?

And how does this patent not fall under "obvious"? DVDs have a rating. Feature request: let a user decide what ratings they want their system to be allowed to play.

And that deserves a patent??
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Dark Helmet (profile), 12 Jun 2009 @ 10:59am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Frivolous?
Being stuck in a room with Ricky Martin, Lou Vega, and Ja Rule, and we told them that the person we're punishing has one last record contract to give out...
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Mike Masnick (profile), 12 Jun 2009 @ 11:23am

Re: Re: Frivolous?
If anything Mike, you should hold this story up as proof that the copyright / patent systems WORK, no?

Uh, not at all. The fact that anyone even thought this could work shows how far gone the patent system is. The fact that Nintendo had to spend time and money responding to such an obviously false claim shows how far gone the patent system is.
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CleverName, 12 Jun 2009 @ 5:32pm

Sawed Off Shotgun
This proves that the patent troll mentality uses a shotgun approach to litigation. Pull the trigger enough times while spinning the shotgun around and you just might hit something. No need to verify whether your claims have merit, its time to win the lotto.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2009 @ 9:31am

Re: Re: Re: Frivolous?
Think about that the next time you get stopped for a crime you didn't commit. It's the nature of the free world.
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Lyoko is Cool, 13 Jun 2009 @ 2:50pm

Actually
The Wii /can/ play DVD's, just not natively, see site for details (http://wiibrew.org/wiki/DVDX)
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2009 @ 8:52pm

Re: Actually
Which suggests that perhaps the plaintiffs saw a modified WII in action?
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smilelin, 22 Jun 2009 @ 1:21am

wii game
http://www.micsourcing.com/productdetail.php?category=776&id=9801
Nintendo Wii Standard Sets + 26-In-1 Sports Pack + 40 Games
This machine supports both NTSC and PAL color formats (note: NTSC and PAL are two major analog TV color format standard. For instance the United States uses NTSC, and UK and mass majority of European countries uses PAL). We can pre-configure the color format for you, pls find out the right color format for your locale. Important: even if your TV supports multiple color standard, the games you would purchase in your local stores and domestic online stores may not support multiple standards, so it is important for you to find out the right one.
top quality and best price,the game you can not miss it
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Wii Points, 27 Jul 2009 @ 5:21pm

Ughh
People try to sue so quickly now a days to try and make a quick buck. It's kinda pathetic. If you're gonna try and sue someone, at least make sure you have good grounds
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James Milton (profile), 28 Jul 2020 @ 11:04am

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