Seijiro Tomita, a Japanese inventor, has taken Nintendo to court, claiming that he invented the technology used to create the 3D effect on the LCD screen used by the 3DS.
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/02/nintendo_facing_lawsuit_over_3d_technology_on_the_3ds
I bet when Nintendo were courting potential partners, they didn't expect they'd be seeing one again in an actual courtroom a few years later. (I'm actually going to apologise for that one, sorry everyone!)
Nintendo's lawyers have hit back, saying that the 3DS's technology comes from another vendor, and doesn't use the "cross-point" feature mentioned in Tomita's patent.According to Tomita's attorney, Joe Diamante, he displayed a prototype of his technology for seven Nintendo officials at the company's headquarters in 2003, while his patent application was pending. He was looking for licensee partners at the time.
Tomita, a former employee of Sony Corp., felt "betrayed" and "hurt" when he found out that four of the seven people present at his meeting would go on to help develop the 3DS system.
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/02/nintendo_facing_lawsuit_over_3d_technology_on_the_3ds
I bet when Nintendo were courting potential partners, they didn't expect they'd be seeing one again in an actual courtroom a few years later. (I'm actually going to apologise for that one, sorry everyone!)