Nintendo’s lawsuit against Japanese developer settled for $ 30 million

In December 2017, Nintendo sued Japanese developer Colopl for patent infringement in the free-to-play mobile game. Shironeko Project. According to an official statement, Colopl has agreed to pay Nintendo 3.3 billion yen ($ 30 million).

Colopl is a major developer of smart devices, creating titles like TsumTsum Land for Disney.

Released internationally as Colopl Rune History, Shironeko Project is an action role-playing game with touchscreen controls. In its lawsuit, Nintendo claimed Shironeko Project infringed five of its patents, including a touchscreen control system, including “the use of a joystick on a touchscreen”.

The infringement appears to refer to a patent introduced with the Nintendo DS wrist strap, which also served as a joystick-type control for the handheld. Shironeko Project introduced what he called a “Punicon” mechanic, in which players slide their finger across the screen and tap to unleash attacks. Nintendo’s claim covers placing arbitrary coordinates on the screen and then dragging it like a joystick movement. This led Colopl to change the entry controls in February 2020.

At the time the lawsuit was originally launched, a patent attorney from Yahoo News! Japan indicated that the claim was rather complex and that Nintendo’s original patented control system was far-reaching. “I think it’s possible to call it what’s called a ‘killer patent’,” the lawyer wrote.

Earlier this year, as analyst Serkan Toto underline, Nintendo sought more damages, increasing the amount to the equivalent of $ 47 million, from the original $ 42 million. The argument was that Colopl continued to infringe Nintendo’s patents since the start of the lawsuit. In April, the amount had apparently increased to over $ 92 million.

“Subsequently”, writes Colopl in a press release announcing settlement, “the Company determined that it would be best to resolve the issue as soon as possible through a settlement, and has now reached agreement on the settlement.”

“The terms of the deal are that the company will pay Nintendo a total of 3.3 billion yen in settlement of the lawsuit,” Colopl continues, “including future licenses, and that Nintendo will withdraw the lawsuit.”

As a result of the settlement, Colopl will experience “extraordinary losses” in the third quarter ending September 21. “The settlement of this lawsuit will have no impact on the Company’s consolidated business results for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021 and beyond.”

And with that, the Nintendo and Colopl legal saga comes to an end.