Nintendo Faces Lawsuit Over the Switch’s Tablet Design

Gamevice, the creators of the Wikipad (what ever that is), is suing Nintendo over the Switch. As reported by Engadget, Gamevice is claiming the Switch uses patents that they own without their permission.

"According to the suit, the Switch and its removable Joy-Con controllers are too close to Gamevice's vision of a combination of detachable game controller and a device with a 'flexible bridge section,'" Engadget reported. "Not surprisingly, the lawsuit calls for both damages and a ban on Switch sales."

The Wikipad, featured above, is the actual device that cradles the tablet. It has dual analog sticks, a D-pad and four face buttons. It can be attached to tablets and mobile devices to allow traditional gaming controls to mobile games.

Fun fact: Nintendo owned exclusive rights to the D-pad until the patent expired in 2005. The one on the Wikipad, like many other non-Nintendo consoles, is designed ever so slightly different, but considering their flimsy argument that the Switch infringes on the Wikipad, there still exists a significant amount of irony.

The lawsuit was filed on August 9. For reference, here's the full text. We highly expect this lawsuit to be thrown out, but we'll keep an eye on the story as it progresses. In other Nintendo news, there are three well-known indie titles being ported to the Nintendo Switch.