Nintendo Wins Lawsuit Appeal In Mii Character Patent Case

A long-standing litigation against Nintendo has finally been resolved as a federal appeals court confirmed that a patent asserting the video game company’s techniques of creating Miis should never have been granted.

The ruling was declared on April 28, officially ending the six-year appeal process. In 2011, RecogniCorp, LLC’s claimed Nintendo ’s Mii characters employed the same techniques described in the patent for making police sketches of suspects.

“We are very pleased with the court’s decision,” said Ajay Singh, Nintendo of America’s Director of Litigation and Compliance in a press release. “The decision marks another case in which Nintendo’s unique ideas overcame unjustified threats of patent infringement. Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products and we will continue to vigorously defend all our products from meritless patent lawsuits.”

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Nintendo’s Mii characters have been a staple of the company since the introduction of the Wii home console in 2006. Mii characters allowed players to create stylized virtual characters. Creation of Nintendo Miis are not like any other character-creation suite in video games. Players choose hair, height, weight, nose, eyes among other fields to get as close to how you look in real life.

Miis can be used in a variety of ways, which have evolved over time. Players can use their Miis as ways to interact with friends online or as actual players in-game. For example, you can upload your Mii into Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, where you can fight or race against Mario and other Nintendo characters.

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Nintendo released its first official mobile app, Miitomo, using Miis in a social media setting. Users can use their Miis to ask their friends’ Miis all sorts of questions while playing mini-games, dressing up and taking creative photos.