Rockville, Md. - Hillcrest Labs announced on Wednesday that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Nintendo, over the motion-sensing controller and navigation interface display system of its Wii video game console.

Maryland-based Hillcrest claims that the Wii remote infringes on U.S. Patent Nos. 7,158,118, 7,262,760, and 7,414,611, while the Wii television interface infringes on its U.S. Patent No. 7,139,983.

Founded in 2001, Hillcrest holds 29 patents, and has developed motion-control/pointing technology called Freespace that has been licensed by Logitech and Universal Electronics.

The company raised $25 million in January, from investors including NEA, Columbia Capital, Grotech Ventures and AllianceBernstein.

"While Hillcrest Labs has a great deal of respect for Nintendo and the Wii, Hillcrest Labs believes that Nintendo is in clear violation of its patents and has taken this action to protect its intellectual property rights," the company said in a statement.

Nintendo has not yet responded to the lawsuit; the company is currently appealing a patent infringement ruling that found it had violated patents held by Anascape.

Related Links:
http://www.hillcrestlabs.com

http://peek.snipurl.com/3i6rk (DMW previous coverage)