Nintendo’s Dog Simulator Infringes Speech Patent, New Suit Says

Nintendo’s virtual pet simulator improperly uses a patented program built to regulate video game players’ behavior through their speech, a Texas company said in a complaint filed in federal district court.

BioControl LLC alleges the handheld console game Nintendogs used the company’s technology by using a microphone to allow players to give a virtual dog verbal commands. Nintendo of America Inc. continues to infringe the patent, BioControl said in a lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

The patented technology is a method for a video game to recognize the player’s emotions through speech, then...