Malikie and Peterreins Schley kick off UPC battle against Nintendo

Last year, Malikie took over a portfolio from BlackBerry comprising around 32,000 patents, including SEPs. The Irish NPE has now filed lawsuits against Nintendo before the UPC based on two implementation patents. This is likely to be the start of a new extensive patent battle. 

Malikie, founded in 2023 to commercialise the BlackBerry patent portfolio, is part of the Irish company Key Patent Innovation. The NPE holds a wide variety of intellectual property rights, both SEPs and non-SEPs, for wireless, security, messaging and server technologies that are used in various industries – from consumer electronics to automotive, cybersecurity, AI and medical devices.

Malikie has recently filed a lawsuit against Nintendo at the UPC local division Hamburg based on two of these patents (case IDs: ACT_53365/2024 and ACT_52355/2024). EP 2 448 225 protects a “Navigation tool holder” and EP 2 579 551 is titled “Method and apparatus pertaining to automatically performing an application function of an electronic device based upon detecting a change in physical configuration of the device”. Both patents are not related to any standard.

In Malikie’s opinion, these are infringed by products from the Japanese games console manufacturer.

In Hamburg, UPC judges Sabine Klepsch, Stefan Schilling and Marije Knijff will rule on the two cases. Further proceedings are pending in the USA.

Big battle likely

This could mark the start of a major patent battle over different IT related patents at the UPC. Although Blackberry licensed various companies, the Canadian company was primarily focused on using the technology in its own products. “The portfolio is unlicensed to a large number of companies”, says Angela Quinlan, Managing Director of Malikie and among other things responsible for licensing and litigation strategies, in an interview with JUVE Patent.

She is convinced of the high value of the portfolio. “Numerous patents are implemented in many products of various manufacturers in a wide range of industries,” she says. According to Quinlan, some large corporations have already taken licenses. She announced that Malikie would enforce IP rights against potential infringers.

Several actions are currently being prepared in different jurisdictions, including the UPC. “Europe is an important market and the UPC is therefore very relevant for us,” says Quinlan. None of the patents in the portfolio are opted out of the system.