Nintendo

Nintendo are being sued over Joy Con design

The first lawsuit against the Nintendo Switch has been filed earlier this week, claiming that the innovative and original design of Nintendo’s latest console might not be so original after all.

On Wednesday this week, Gamevice filed a lawsuit against Nintendo for apparently infringing on one of their patented designs. The mobile gaming company are claiming that the Nintendo Switch directly violates their patent by including the detachable Joy Con controllers.

Gamevice is a US company which manufactures gaming controllers for tablets and smartphones, one of which features removable controllers with duel analog sticks, four analog buttons, and a D-pad.

Gamevice is demanding compensation in addition to Nintendo ceasing production and sale of the Nintendo Switch immediately. The company stated in their complaint filed on Wednesday: “Nintendo’s infringement has caused, and is continuing to cause, damage and irreparable injury to Gamevice.”

The Nintendo Switch console has sold over 4.7 million units since its launch in March this year, making it one of Nintendo’s fastest selling consoles to date.

Being sued over patenting issues is not unfamiliar to the Japanese company. During the popularity of the Wii console, Nintendo were sued by various companies claiming that the Wii infringed upon their patents, such as the lawsuit filed by UltimatePower over the design of the Wii’s controllers. Most of these cases resulted in Nintendo’s favour initially, and the ones that didn’t were settled in an appeal after.

So far neither Nintendo nor Gamevice have released further statements.

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Kirsty Grant

Kirsty is an avid collector, owning far too many limited edition statues and game boxes than she has room for. As a child, she would spend her time playing Animal Crossing on her Nintendo DS, and collecting Doctor Who and Yugi-Oh cards. She loves games inspired by history and archaeology, meaning games like Assassin's Creed and Uncharted are some of her favourites. She also loves singing along to game soundtracks, especially the Dragonborn Theme from Skyrim. When she isn't gaming, Kirsty can usually be found ballroom dancing or watching crime documentaries on Netflix.