Ex-Midway employee suing Nintendo for Wiimote/Nunchuk idea

Patrick Goschy, an ex-employee of Midway, claims that he came up with the Wiimote/Nunchuck idea over 10 years ago. You can see his idea in action in the video below. It does indeed look like he had the same types of ideas. Nintendo says that Mr. Goschy did not have any involvement with the Wii, be that ideas or creation.

[ChickeyCantor]

Well well well, where were you when they announced the Wii-mote?
now Nintendo is having a huge success the lawsuits are coming from everywhere.

[MK_Red]

lol, True.
It's really stupid and hilarious how these people start suing big companies long after their products become popular. Seriously, didn't he know Wii and Wii mote existed until now.

[Salvadore]

Oh, another one who appeared from nowhere.

[BrianC6234]

So did this clown patent his Wiimote idea? I bet I've had a lot of ideas that were made into products. He better at least prove he showed it to Nintendo and to people who were involved in the Wii-mote. I'm sick and tired of these lame lawsuits.

[ChickeyCantor]

One disagreed....what should i do ? cry because its so pathetic or laugh because it makes no sense?
ill just cut my wrist.

But seriously though, does this guy have a patent ?

[Noodlecup]

stop suing people, it's disgusting.

[malingenie]

I believe it may be a tad tasteless to wear boxers for this video, dont you?

I would have at least photoshopped my hippy ass some pants.

[Seraphim]

Lol!! those are PANTS!! Those were somewhat popular at the time. Even Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and many other big names had lines which included pants that looked like those. They actually brought back some memories to me, laughing at all the people who used wear them. Lol.

[Staircase]

If he didn't patent it, then there is no grounds for a lawsuit. Otherwise i could claim I invented the Cell Phone.

[Syko]

Funny, I invented the Question mark.

[JewyMcJew]

Sorry Midway, no patents = no $$$

But, I think this "prior art" just successfully killed off any patent claims by Nintendo. Based on this, if Sony or MS wishes to copy the wiimote, they would probably not have to pay any royaltees.

[weezeru2]

this guy doesnt stand a chance against nintendo and sony. Rule number one... dress to impress.

[mccomber]

That does look like a prototype for the most basic elements of the Wii controls. Not sure if he has much legal ground if this is the extent of what was done with the idea, but he does at least have a "why didn't I try to sell this?" memory to cherish.

[Skerj]

Yeeeaaah seeing him in those shorts/boxers was not the highlight of my day, I'm sad now.

[Skerj]

Why are people coming out of the woodworks a year and a half after the fact? Shouldn't they have been around prior to the system's launch? Same thing goes for that lawsuit levied against Nintendo and Sony.

[mccomber]

I've read several times in regards to other lawsuits that it has to do with how long it takes the courts to get to this stuff; he may have started this case back when Nintendo first revealed the controls, but it's taken this long for it to actually go anywhere.

[iheartSONY]

This video was shot as a tech brief which means he more than likely sent it out to quite a few tech heads hoping someone would bite on his idea. He has the video to prove he had the idea first but can he prove the creators of the Wiimote seen his video?

[TheExodus]

Sorry Patrick, but the only thing you're going to get out of this suit is bled dry by your attorney. This video leads me to believe that you "invented" this control system for Midway while employed by Midway which means you have absolutely no IP rights to your invention. If anyone has a claim against Nintendo it would be Midway, but I'm sure Midway's legal team reviewed this before Wii ever launched.

[B Man]

and there was a patent... or atleast a copyright for the idea on paper...Nintendo is screwed. Well... not really... they'll take a hit money wise, but at this point they can afford it. This guy is going to be freaking rich though.

It's going to be hard to win this case if he doesn't have any of the above though.

[shaggyjb]

When lawsuits involving patents actually reach litigation, they go before a jury, a jury that often averages no more than a high school education. Winning such lawsuits often comes down to jury influence, which means that at times it comes down to confusing jurors. Showing such a video and proving its date precedes any Nintendo patent would be a pretty influential start. Convincing the jury that Nintendo possibly knew of this demonstration or had the ability to acquire such information (such as a Nintendo employee with a NDA in place at Midway) could lead to the jury believing this man is due some compensation. Don't be so quick to believe that lawsuits like this are easily squashed. Instead, they are often settled out of court making the lawsuit quite profitable for the individual filing the lawsuit. A video like this can be far more powerful than the often difficult to decipher lawyerese contained in patent applications.

[wiizy]

that disgruntled clown want some of that nintendo money too

[GodsHand]

So he made it for the Sega Dreamcast, the arch rival to Nintendo at the time.

[B Man]

The clearly dying N64? Hell it might have already been dead at that point. PS2 or Dreamcast were the clear choices at the time.