Despite Nintendo's family-friendly, super-kawaii, soft and cuddly reputation, they are more than capable of dropping the hammer on some patent trolls.
In April 2010, IA Labs sued Nintendo for patent infringement- apparently concerning hardware for the Wii like the Wii balance board (and I can only assume that Nintendo responded thusly). But in February 2012, the court ruled in favor of Nintendo and they were rewarded some of the cost of their court fees. However, IA Labs attempted to appeal the ruling- and they were shut down. Nintendo's win was confirmed in June 2013 and IA Labs was ordered to pay even more of Nintendo's court fees incurred defending itself during the appeal. Because IA Labs did not pay, a sheriff's sale was held to sell their remaining assets. And guess who decided to send the biggest "Screw You" of the year by buying up IA Labs' entire portfolio of patents?
Nintendo of America's vice president and deputy general counsel Richard Medway had this to say:
"Nintendo’s track record demonstrates that we vigorously defend patent lawsuits, like the IA Labs lawsuit, when we believe we have not infringed another party’s patent. This includes holding those who sue Nintendo responsible for the costs and expenses incurred in patent litigation,... Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others.”
In other words: "Don't start no s***, it won't be no s***."
