Conference rusure::nintendo

From: [email protected] (David Lukas)
Subject: Nintendo wins Tetris fight vs. Atari Games
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 70
 
About 70 lines.  A row of 10 asterisks marks the end of this
article.
 
Reprinted without permission from the Associated Press, as printed in the
San Jose (CA) Mercury News, Thursday AM, 6/22, page 2C:
 
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal judge awarded Nintentdo Co., Ltd. a
potentially lucrative victory over video rival Atari Games Corp. of
Milpitas on Wednesday, ruling that Nintendo could market a home
video version of the Soviet-designed video game Tetris.
 
U.S. District Judge Fern Smith issued a preliminary injunction
prohibiting Tengen Inc., an Atari Games subsidiary, from continuing
to sell a home video version of Tetris that it started marketing
last month.  She denied Tengen's request for a similar injunction
against Nintendo, whose own version of the game is due out in
August.
 
The dispute is an offshoot of a $100 million suit filed last
December by Atari Games against Nintendo, a Kyoto, Japan-based firm
with a U.S. subsidiary that controls 80 percent of the U.S. market
for home video game machines.
 
Atari Games contends Nintendo is violating antitrust laws by
limiting the number of games it makes under licensing agreements
with software developers and preventing them from making games
independently by using a "lockout" computer chip.
 
Nintendo says Atari Games is violating its patent by making games
that can be played on Nintendo machines.  Atari Games is unrelated
to computer maker Atari Inc.  [Is this true?  -- DiL]
 
Smith said Wednesday she would issue an opinion later explaining her
reasoning.  A lawyer for Nintendo said the judge was given written
statements from the two Soviet scientists who developed Tetris and
from the British companies that acquired certain licensing rights to
the game from the Soviet Union.
 
"We are very pleased that the judge ... concluded that the Soviets
were correctly describing their position that they had not granted
the rights indirectly to Tengen and that they were very angry that
Tengen was purporting to exercise those rights," said Nintendo's
lawyer, John Kirby of New York.
 
David Ellis, a spokesman for Tengen, said the company "in good faith
understood it had the rights for Tetris under the Nintendo video
game format."  He declined comment on a possible appeal.
 
Players in Tetris manipulate geometric shapes to form prescribed
patterns.  Ellis said the game has been popular in arcades, where
Atari Games has been marketing it since February.
 
In producing the game for home video systems, Nintendo cited a
license agreement with British-based Mirrorsoft, a subsidiary of
Maxwell Communications.  But Nintendo argued that the British
license, which originated with the Soviet export agency Elorg, was
intended to apply only to personal computers and not to home video
games.
 
Nintendo learned by accident this February that "the Soviets had no
idea that this game had been sublicensed to Tengen for production in
video game systems," said Kirby.  "The Russians were astounded and
very angry.  They made it clear to Nintendo that the game was
available for license."
 
The Nintendo lawyer said the company will market the game for both
home video and hand-held video machines.  Kirby said Nintendo also
wants damages for profits Tengen has made from its home video sales.
 
**********

    
      Wow!  It looks like any of you folks who owns the Tengen Tetris,
   may have a collectors item.
    
    -rick

    
    I have seen Tetris for sale for use with Nintendo. Is this the Tengen
    version?
    
    
    BLW
    

RE:                    <<< Note 252.3 by SOFBAS::WALKER >>>
>    I have seen Tetris for sale for use with Nintendo. Is this the Tengen
>    version?

See note 247.*
I purchased the Tengen version in W. Boyston (Ma.) but a usenet posting
stated that the Nintendo was also out!

Ron M.

Article         6725
From: [email protected] (Dave Taylor)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Nintendo wins round against Atari Games...
Organization: Intuitive Systems, Mountain View, CA: +011 (415) 966-1151
Lines: 37
 
Summarized from a report in today's Wall Street Journal:
 
----
 
	    Nintendo Unit Wins Round Against Atari Games Corp.
 
   REDMOND, Washington -- Nintendo of America Inc. said it won a round
   in its video-game legal battle with Atari Games Inc.
 
   The company said a federal appeals court in Washington D.C. reversed
   a lower court ruling that had prevented it from suing retailers who 
   sell unauthorized video-game cartridges made by Atari Games for the 
   Nintendo home-entertainment system.
 
   In February 1989, Atari Games obtained a preliminary injunction from a 
   San Fransciso federal judge barring suits againt the retailers pending 
   resolution of an Atari Games suit against the U.S. Unit of Japan's 
   Nintendo Co.  Atari Games sued Nintendo in December 1988 charging that 
   the Nintendo system was designed in a way to discourage competition in 
   violation of U.S. antitrust law.  Nintendo countersued that Atari Games 
   had violated its patent and other rights.
 
   The latest ruling "means that Nintendo has a full range of legal options
   it may use to protect Nintendo's patents," said Howard Lincoln, Nintendo 
   of America senior vice president.  He said the company hasn't decided 
   whether to sue the retailers.  Atari Games officials acknowledged that 
   the mere threat of litigation would probaby deter distributors from 
   selling its software.
 
	... article continues ...
 
   Atari Games have been selling about $40 million / year of unauthorized
   games for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
 
---
 
Dave Taylor				[email protected]

Article         6723
From: [email protected] (Alex Reyes)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Atari Games vs Nintendo
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 41
 
 
 
 
Perhaps I should have titled it David vs Goliath but anyway,
listed below are a few excerpts from an article in todays
NY Times.
 
COURT BACKS NINTENDO ON VIDEO GAME SUITS
 
A Federal appeals court has ruled that Nintendo of America Inc.
may sue retailers who buy unauthorized Nintendo video games from
its competitors, strengthening Nintendo's dominant position in
the industry.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in
Washington made the decision on March 7, but it was not revealed
until yesterday. The court VOIDED a preliminary injunction stopping 
Nintendo from sueing retailers for patent infringement when they
carried unsanctioned games.
The injunction stems from a lawsuit charging Nintendo with mono-
polistic practices. It was filed in December 1988 by the Atari 
Games Corporation, an arcade-game developer in Milpitas, Calif.
In Feburary 1989, Atari Games persuaded a Federal court in San
Francisco to grant the injunction.
Nintendo had developed a security system consisting of a "master"
computer chip in the Nintendo game deck and a "slave" chip in the
game cartridge inserted into the deck. Without both, the game can
not be played. But Atari games developed a way to circumvent the
Nintendo system, making possible the development of unsanctioned
games.
The Atari Games lawsuit is schedule for trial in the spring of 1991.
Although Atari Games has not yet decided whether to appeal the appeals
court ruling, it hinted at more litigation. Dennis Wood, the company's
Senior Vice President, said the lifting of the injunction would also
allow Atari Games to sue retailors carrying cartridges that infringed
its own patents.
**********************************************************************
 
The article also mentioned that at one time Nintendo had more than
80 percent of the $3.4 billion video game business last year. Quite
a significat chunk of money to say the least. But alas, too much is
never enough with any Corporation. 

    Re 56.158:
    
    For more information on Tengen, see the preceding notes in this topic,
    and topics elsewhere in this conference.
    
    Tengen does not want to get licensed by Nintendo because:
    
    	a) Nintendo charges a lot of money for it.
    	b) Nintendo has restrictive clauses in the contract, such as:
    		minimum quantities to order and
    		exclusion from making the game for any other game system
    			for a certain period.
    	c) Licensing through Nintendo requires letting Nintendo manufacture
    	   the games -- which means Nintendo decides the order games will
    	   get made in and how many of them get made.
    
    Stores get Tengen games either directly from Tengen or from a
    distributor that carries them.  Electronics Boutique (across the
    country) and Computer Junction (in Milford, New Hampshire) carry Tengen
    games.
    
    I doubt very much Trysoft will carry Tengen games.  If Trysoft is not
    actually a Nintendo subsidiary, they are at least in bed together. 
    Trysoft is in the same city as Nintendo's headquarters (Redmond,
    Washington), and I heard it was across the street.
    
    
    				-- edp

Copyright � Dow Jones & Co. 1991
Source: Business Wire
    
    Headline: Court grants Nintendo's motion for preliminary injunction
    against Atari Games Corp. and Tengen Inc.; Infringing Tengen computer
    program ruled illegal 
    
    Time: MAR 28 1991 1513


Story:

  REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The U.S. District Court for the Northern 
District of California has granted Nintendo of America Inc. a preliminary 
injunction against Atari Games Corp. and Tengen Inc. (``Atari'').

  The ruling will prohibit Atari from continuing to market cartridges for the 
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which infringe the copyrighted computer 
program -- 10NES -- belonging to Nintendo.

  The Court's order prohibits Atari from copying, selling, or using in any 
way, Nintendo's copyrighted computer program, which Atari has incorporated 
into its unauthorized NES-compatible cartridges.

  Commenting on the ruling, Howard Lincoln, Nintendo's senior vice president, 
said, ``The Court's acknowledgement of our position clearly paves the way for 
protection of our intellectual property rights and reinforces the importance 
of fair marketplace competition.''

  This injuction is the latest round in over two years of litigation between 
Nintendo and Atari.  Nintendo has charged in this litigation, among other 
things, that Atari fraudulently obtained a copy of Nintendo's computer program 
through deliberate lies to the U.S. Copyright Office.

  The Court agreed, stating in the decision that: ``Atari lied to the 
Copyright Office in order to obtain the copyrighted 10NES program.''

  As a result of Atari's infringing actions, the Court has ordered that Atari 
immediately halt any further marketing, distribution or sale of its 
NES-compatible game cartridges which use Nintendo's computer program.  The 
Court has also required that Atari give written notice of the order within 10 
business days to all entities to which the company has sold infringing game 
cartridges, recalling all product.

  Nintendo of America Inc. sells personal, home and arcade video games in the 
United States.  The Redmond-based company is the headquarters for the 
company's marketing operations in North America and is the subsidiary of the 
world's largest manufacturer and marketer of video games, Nintendo Co. Ltd.
NOTE:  Nintendo Entertainment System is a registered trademark of
Nintendo of America Inc.

           CONTACT:  Hill and Knowlton Inc., Los Angeles
                     Lynne Gray or Jeffrey Fox, 213/937-7460

categoryIndustry I/CPR I/ENT I/REC
categorySubject N/LAW
categoryMarketSector M/CYC M/TEC
categoryProduct P/TOY
categoryGeographic R/CA R/JA
categoryCompany ATC J.NTD

    The latest word I have heard is that Atari/Tengen lied to the Copyright
    Office to get a copy of some of Nintendo's source code, and a court has
    banned Tengen from selling any cartridges using that code.  Tengen's
    been ordered to notify all distributors immediately.
    
    Nintendo isn't so upright itself; it has agreed to rebate $5 to people
    who bought their system between certain dates, to compensate for
    price-fixing practices.  The rebate is only good when you buy another
    cartridge though.  See note 367.37 for details.
    
    
    				-- edp

    I still see Tengen cartridges on the shelves in a couple stores.  Is
    this a crime?  Should I buy them as an investment?  Is this a crime?
    
    Steve

I tried to call the Tengen 800 number and they are "No longer acepting
telephone orders".  I'm glad I got my Klax just before the ban went into
affect.

Neal

Article 1856 of clari.news.law.civil:
From: [email protected] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.computers,clari.news.law.civil
Subject: Atari withdraws appeal on Nintendo case
Lines: 13

	REDMOND, Wash. (UPI) -- Nintendo of America Inc., Nintendo Co. Ltd.
and Atari Corp. announced Wednesday that Atari has withdrawn its appeal
of a jury verdict and judgment in favor of Nintendo in Atari's antitrust
case against Nintendo.
	A federal court jury in San Francisco cleared Nintendo on May 1 of
charges by Atari that it illegally attempted to monopolize the home
video game market in the United States in the late 1980s.
	Nintendo said Wednesday it will not proceed with its request to
recover certain court costs from Atari.
	Atari had sought $160 million in damages, alleging that Nintendo had
illegally tied up the industry's premier video-game makers a series of
exclusive licensing agreement. But the jury found that Atari had not
been damaged by anything Nintendo had done.

    I didn't see anywhere to put this, and didn't want to start a new note
    for it, so I'm replying here.
    
    There's an Atari Jaguar notesfile now on METALX::JAGUAR.
    
    If you're interested, hit KP7 to add.
    
    Ken