I hate covering stories like this. You just know they're going after Nintendo right now because they're making money hand over fist. Hillcrest Labs, Interlink Electronics, Anascape, and now Motiva, LLC all want a piece of the big red hat.

Motiva claims that Nintendo's Wii technology is in violation of a patent it holds for "a 'Human Movement Measurement System' comprising a hand-held tracking device in communication with a base station that can be used to create an interactive gaming experience." That patent application was filed in July 2004 and granted November 2007.

The 'Human Movement Measurement System' application can be read at Google Patents. -- Kotaku

Where the hell were these guys two years ago? Hell, they didn't even have the patent until 2007. What takes these guys so long?

Anyway, at least there was some entertainment to be had from this, as per Kotaku:

The silver lining from the case is the hilarious quote from attorney W. Mark Lanier, who represents Motiva: "Using someone else's technology without permission is theft. Nintendo makes video games where you get to play a thief, but that doesn't give them the right to be one."

It also doesn't give Nintendo the legal right to stomp turtles, assault Moblins or deliberately trick us about their gender by wearing asexual bounty hunter space suits. -- Kotaku

Well... I guess Wario sort of counts as a thief, at least that one time.

There has really got to be a better system for this stuff than what we have.