TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATIONS

Jury Finds Nintendo Patent Valid: An eight-member jury unanimously found that Nintendo of America’s patent for its popular game system was valid when Atari Games infringed on it by copying security codes. The decision, which followed a trial before Judge Fern Smith of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, is the latest in a series of victories for Nintendo in litigation involving Atari, one-time king of the video game market. Atari, an 80%-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., previously was found guilty of infringing on Nintendo’s copyrighted security code by manufacturing unlicensed games to be played on the Nintendo system. Damages to be paid to Nintendo by Atari Games for patent and copyright infringement will be decided in a future proceeding. Atari Games said it plans to appeal the verdict.