Nintendo sued for controllers again

A Maryland company has sued Nintendo, alleging that the Wii's controller infringes upon four of the company's patents.

Earlier this year a small Texas company called Anascape sued Nintendo for the designs of its Wii classic and GameCube controllers, two peripherals especially popular at that time because of the game Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. That company walked away with $21 million after Nintendo lost the patent appeal.

Now, another US company has sued the Japanese video game maker for controller designs, but this time for the Wii's iconic Wiimote. Rockville, Maryland's Hillcrest Laboratories has sued Nintendo for patent infringement and filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission over the Wiimote's design.

The company holds four patents for a three-dimensional, motion-sensitive pointer that affects on-screen actions, filed in 2004.