Just when Microsoft and Nintendo thought they were safe from the madness that is the United States patent system, a Texas-based company called Anascape comes along and sues both console makers over 12 patents relating to video game controllers. As you may recall, Sony has already lost its battle with Immersion over a patent concerning force feedback technology. Many suspect the Immersion lawsuit to be the reason for the lack of rumble in the PS3 controller, but Sony contends otherwise.

Anascape filed suit against Microsoft and Nintendo in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas this past Monday. Anascape has accused the companies of infringing on a dozen different patents that were issued between 1999 and 2005. The patents seem to deal with almost every aspect of today's modern video game controller, such as analog controls, analog pressure sensors for buttons, vibration and tactile feedback, and more. One would think that Sony's PS2 controller would come into conflict with these patents as well, so it's not clear why Anascape has targeted Microsoft and Nintendo and has not included Sony in the suit.

Anascape is looking to be reimbursed for damages along with interest. The company also has requested a tally of the revenues that Microsoft and Nintendo have generated from the use of these 12 patents. Furthermore, if Anascape is not successful in having a judge issue a permanent injunction against Microsoft and Nintendo, the company wants a enforced licensing fee to be instituted.

GameDaily BIZ is by no means an expert in legal matters, but we can't help but think that this lawsuit is an attempt to cash in on years of video game revenue from Nintendo and Microsoft. After all, why wait all these years to sue? And who exactly is Anascape? A quick Google search brings up a number of patent pages and a domain that doesn't even point to their business anymore. At least Immersion is a company with a familiar business and already has many video game companies as licensees.

Lastly, while scanning over the legal complaint, we noticed that one of the law firms listed on the document for the plaintiff is McKool Smith. We exclusively reported in late 2004 that McKool Smith had sued a dozen major game publishers over a patent concerning 3-D images being displayed on a monitor. McKool also targeted 19 hardware manufacturers. One of the manufacturers told us at the time under a condition of anonymity, "You could almost call this a legal version of mafia extortion. Because America doesn't have a 'losers pay' rule, these companies stand to lose more money fighting these suits than they would simply settling and giving McKool Smith a quarter for every system that they sell."