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Did Nintendo Ever Get Sued? Yes—Here Are the Key Cases

Nintendo has been sued over Donkey Kong and controller patents, and has sued others—including Yuzu emulator maker Tropic Haze. The outcomes and legal claims differ by case.
From TheFinanceBase Team2 min to read
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Yes. Nintendo has been sued, including in a high-profile dispute with Universal City Studios over Donkey Kong and King Kong rights and in later patent cases involving its controllers. In the cases summarized here, the courts ruled for Nintendo in the Universal and Genuine Enabling Technology disputes. Nintendo has also sued another company: it filed a 2024 complaint against the maker of the Yuzu emulator.

Universal sued Nintendo over Donkey Kong

Universal City Studios claimed that Nintendo’s Donkey Kong infringed its rights in King Kong and initially sought to stop sales of the game. The case also included counterclaims by Nintendo, so the litigation was not simply a one-way dispute. The 1985 district court opinion captured its subject this way: “From the outset, this case has involved two gorillas, King Kong and Donkey Kong, and the rights of their respective owners, plaintiff Universal City Studios, Inc. … and defendants Nintendo Co. Ltd. and Nintendo of America, Inc.” [District court opinion]

The district court ruled for Nintendo on summary judgment. The Second Circuit affirmed the disposition, explaining why Universal’s trademark and related theories failed and addressing the appeal concerning Nintendo’s counterclaims. In other words, Universal sued Nintendo, but the cited decisions did not find Nintendo liable. [Second Circuit opinion]

Later patent cases involved Nintendo controllers

Genuine Enabling Technology

Genuine Enabling Technology alleged that Nintendo products—including Wii Remotes, the Wii U GamePad, Joy-Con controllers and the Switch Pro Controller—infringed a patent. The district court granted summary judgment for Nintendo in 2020, and the Federal Circuit affirmed in 2022. This was a patent dispute decided for Nintendo, not a finding of infringement liability. [District court opinion] [Federal Circuit opinion]

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Gamevice

Gamevice also brought patent litigation involving Nintendo Switch controllers. A Federal Circuit opinion filed January 16, 2026 identifies Gamevice as the plaintiff-appellant and Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Nintendo of America, Inc. as defendants-appellees. The opinion is expressly designated nonprecedential. [Federal Circuit opinion]

Nintendo also sued the maker of the Yuzu emulator

The direction of the lawsuit matters: in February 2024, Nintendo of America filed a complaint against Tropic Haze LLC concerning the Yuzu Switch emulator. Nintendo’s complaint alleges unlawful circumvention and copyright infringement. Those are allegations in a complaint, not court findings established by the complaint itself. [Nintendo’s complaint]

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What these cases establish—and what they do not

These examples show that Nintendo has been named as a defendant in disputes over intellectual-property rights, and that Nintendo has also filed lawsuits of its own. They do not establish a comprehensive count of lawsuits involving Nintendo. Nor should the cases be collapsed into a single outcome: Universal and Genuine Enabling Technology ended in decisions for Nintendo in the cited courts, while the Gamevice opinion identifies the parties and procedural posture, and Nintendo’s Yuzu complaint records allegations.

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