Nintendo Assigned Patent

Nintendo Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, has been assigned a patent (8,949,396) developed by Yoshinobu, Tomoaki, Fujii, Hideki, and Kato, Shunsaku, Kyoto, Japan, for a “computer-readable storage medium having display control program stored therein, display control device, and display control system.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A game apparatus 3A includes: a registration information storage section 171 that stores pieces of individual information about game apparatuses 3 registered as communication partners, with which the game apparatus 3A communicates, and pieces of distinguishing information, about the game apparatuses 3, associated with the pieces of individual information, a connection determination section 101 that determines whether a game apparatus 3B, corresponding to one of the stored pieces of individual information, is connected to a server device 8, a first acquisition section 103 that acquires, when the game apparatus 3B is connected to the server device 8, a piece of individual information about a game apparatus 3C communicating with the game apparatus 3B, and a communication state display section 104 that visibly displays, based on the pieces of individual information, communication states of the game apparatus 3B and the game apparatus 3C associated with each other.“

The patent application was filed on July 28, 2009 (12/510,482).