[JURIST] Entertainment console and video game manufacturer Nintendo of America, Inc. [corporate website] was ordered to pay $21 million Wednesday to Anascape, Ltd., a small Texas video game company after losing a jury verdict in a patent infringement lawsuit concerning hand-held controllers for its Wii and Gamecube video game systems. Anascape filed a complaint [text] against both Nintendo and Microsoft Corporation [corporate website] in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas [court website] in 2006 for infringement on a patent [patent documentation] for a "hand held computer input apparatus and method." Microsoft reached a confidential settlement agreement with Anascape for an undisclosed amount. Nintendo is expected to appeal the verdict. AP has more.

In January, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments [JURIST report] concerning whether a patent holder's rights may be exhausted through certain license agreements. In September 2007, the US House of Representatives approved the Patent Reform Act of 2007 [JURIST report], the first overhaul of US patent laws in over 50 years. In early 2006, service for the widely-used Blackberry hand-held devices was nearly stopped before Blackberry maker Research in Motion reached a settlement [JURIST report] agreement in its patent dispute with NTP, Inc.