Nintendo lost a battle with patent troll Anascape, a company which somehow got its hands on twelve overbroad patents which appear to have no other aim than to rip off gadget makers. Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge Ron Clark in Lufkin, Texas, rejected Nintendo's request to overturn an earlier ruling which ordered Nintendo of America to pay $21 million to Anascape.

The original lawsuit was filed in 2006 and Anascape also sued Microsoft for patent infringements on game controllers. However the Redmond-based company has settled the lawsuit in early May. Microsoft declined to reveal the terms of the settlement. In the original complaint, Anascape was saying that the two companies were infringing on 12 of their patents.

Each of the patents was filed by Brad Armstrong of Paradise, California between the years of 1996 and 2001, and were awarded to him at various dates between 1999 and 2005. Among the patents included in the company's complaint are patent numbers 5,999,084, labeled "Variable Conductance Sensor", 6,102,802, labeled “Game controller with analog pressure sensor(s)”, 6,135,886, labeled “Variable Conductance Sensor with Elastomeric Dome Cap” and 6,208,271, labeled “Remote Controller with Analog Button”.

Anascape previously claimed that Microsoft and Nintendo's infringement of the patents was "willful and deliberate, entitling Anascape to enhanced damages."

Meanwhile, tech giants are seeking to prevent cases like this. Several tech power players have joined forces last month against the so-called patent trolls, entities which are preying on the patents of companies which are going down or of individual inventors and then pursue legal action against large companies which use similar technology. This practice has grown into a real business.

Cisco Systems Inc., Google Inc., Ericsson AB, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Verizon Communications Inc. are among the 11 founding members which have agreed to form an organization, called the Allied Security Trust, which will do the same patent-hunting as the "trolls" but instead will allow its parents to use them without risking infringement lawsuits. This way patent profiteers will be cut off, hopefully. The Allied Security Trust will cost $500,000 to join with an additional $5,000,000 to be deposited for use in patent acquisition.