CAFC Affirms ITC Section 337 No Violation Finding for Nintendo Wii

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the International Trade Commission’s determination that imports of Nintendo’s Wii video game system are not violating Section 337 by infringing on Motiva’s patents. The ITC had found that Motiva was not in the process of establishing a domestic industry. The company’s only activity related to the patents being a lawsuit against Nintendo. The court said the ITC’s determination was supported by the record -- Motiva was not close to developing a product that would utilize the patented technologies, and hadn’t been actively attempting to develop one for years. CAFC also pointed to Motiva’s decision not to ask for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit, as well as the delay of three years between the launch of the Wii and Motiva’s ITC complaint, to show that Motiva’s owners had only filed the lawsuit for financial gain, not to clear the way for establishing an industry in the U.S.