Nintendo Co. has settled a trade fight that could have resulted in a U.S. import ban of its popular gaming system.
Nintendo and Hillcrest Laboratories Inc. filed a notice with the U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday that they reached a settlement of patent-infringement claims. Financial details were blacked out in the copy of the agreement made available to the public.
If Nintendo had lost the case, it might have faced the possibility it couldn't sell the Wii game console in the U.S. at a time when the company's sales of the top-selling system have declined, including a 57 percent drop in the second quarter.
An ITC judge was scheduled to release his findings Monday and the two sides instead asked that he end the case.
Hillcrest claimed the Wii system and accompanying remote controls infringed its patents related to motion-control technology. Hillcrest was asking the commission to ban U.S. imports of products that used its technology without permission.
Nintendo continues to deny infringing the Hillcrest patents, according to the terms of the accord, titled a "licensing and settlement agreement."
Jeremy Pemble, a spokesman for Hillcrest, declined comment on whether Nintendo has agreed to license the company's patents. Officials with Nintendo USA's outside publicity firm didn't comment.
Three of the Hillcrest patents are for motion-control technology and a fourth is for graphic interface software used on the television.