Nintendo hit with $30M judgment in patent case on 3DS screen

A federal jury in New York on Wednesday decided that Nintendo infringed an inventor’s patent on glasses-free 3D displays on the Japanese company’s handheld 3DS game system.

The jury awarded $30.2 million in compensatory damages to Seijiro Tomita, a Japanese inventor who patented a system for producing 3D images on a screen with requiring the user to wear cumbersome 3D glasses.

Last month, Tomita’s attorney Joe Diamante told the jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that Nintendo infringed the technology created by Tomita, a former Sony employee. Nintendo’s attorney argued otherwise. Tomita sued Nintendo in 2011.

Nintendo said the patent did not related to 3D games playable on the 3DS. In statement, the company said, “Nintendo is confident that the result will be set aside.  The jury’s verdict will not impact Nintendo’s continued sales in the United States of its highly acclaimed line of video game hardware, software and accessories, including the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others.”