Microsoft has received a lawsuit over their Kinect motion sensor from an Ohio-based company. Impulse Technology filed a lawsuit in Delaware on June 21st 2011, alleging that Microsoft has infringed on not one, but seven patents the company owns. These patents relate to motion-controlled gaming without a controller. The patent numbers can be viewed below:
Impulse say that they alerted Microsoft to the infringing actions with Kinect in their lawsuit. According to Patent Arcade, Impulse"s wording as to what was being infringed upon is as follows:
Wide variety of games where the movement of a player is tracked in three dimensions ... and certain exercise games where the motion of the player is tracked to effect movement of a virtual avatar, and the exertion of the user is monitored, including where the tracking of the player is done by use of a camera.
The lawsuit also claims that Microsoft willfully infringed on the patents in order to produce the Kinect systems. As well as Microsoft, other companies are listed as defendants in the lawsuit. These companies include Konami, Sega, and Electronic Arts, as well as five others. These companies have been responsible for producing games for the Kinect system that also infringe on the Impulse patents. The company wants permanent injunctions, damages, treble charges, interest, attorney fees, and costs.