Nintendo has brought a lengthy legal battle in Germany to a close, emerging successful in a patent dispute that has stretched back more than 15 years. The company has been awarded damages, interest and legal costs totalling roughly AUD 12 million after a court found that a third-party Wii controller infringed one of its European patents.

The ruling, confirmed in late October, requires accessories maker BigBen Interactive, now operating as Nacon, to compensate Nintendo for unauthorised use of patented Wii controller technology. The case centred on a European patent covering aspects of Nintendo’s motion-control design.

According to reports first highlighted by The Games Fray, Nintendo’s German legal representatives described the outcome as highly unusual. German patent cases rarely proceed to a detailed assessment of damages, yet the court went further by accepting that Nintendo would likely have captured all relevant sales if the infringing products had not been available.

The underlying patent breach itself was established as far back as 2011. At that time, the court determined that BigBen’s controllers infringed Nintendo’s intellectual property. BigBen later argued that consumers who did not purchase its products would have chosen other non-Nintendo alternatives instead. However, the court rejected this position, finding that competing third-party controllers were also very likely to infringe the same patent.

Legal representatives for Nintendo noted that the damages phase alone extended over seven years, highlighting the difficulty and time involved in pursuing patent compensation claims in Germany. They also pointed to repeated delays during the proceedings, including objections to the court-appointed expert witness.

Those delays ultimately increased the cost to BigBen. Interest was applied at five percentage points above the base rate, significantly inflating the final amount payable and forming a substantial portion of the overall award.

Nacon has confirmed that it is appealing the judgment.

Separately, Nintendo is facing renewed scrutiny over a more recent patent victory in the United States. The head of the US Patent and Trademark Office has announced a re-examination of a patent granted to Nintendo that covers a gameplay mechanic involving a character summoning another character to assist during combat.

While the review does not automatically revoke the patent, it signals concerns from the USPTO leadership about the validity of US Patent No. 12,403,397. The reassessment could ultimately lead to the patent being withdrawn, depending on the outcome of the process.