Those of you looking to market a "handheld three-dimensional pointing device" might want to hold off, lest you incur the wrath of Hillcrest Labs.

Hillcrest, a Maryland-based software company, filed a patent infringement complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and a separate lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Maryland that claims Nintendo's Wii controllers and game consoles infringe on its patents.

Hillcrest has three patents that relate to handheld, three-dimensional pointing devices, which were obtained in January 2007, August 2007, and August 2008. Hillcrest also owns another patent for a navigation interface display system that graphically organizes content on a television that it obtained in November 2006.

Hillcrest said that leading consumer electronics companies like Logitech have licensed Hillcrest technology, but "while Hillcrest Labs has a great deal of respect for Nintendo and the Wii, Hillcrest Labs believes that Nintendo is in clear violation of its patents and has taken this action to protect its intellectual property rights," according to a statement.

Hillcrest is looking to recover unspecified damages, costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees. It also wants the court to enjoin Nintendo from infringing upon Hillcrest patents in the future, according to the suit.

The Nintendo Wii debuted in November 2006 and has sold 29.6 million units. Nintendo sold 5.2 million Wii machines worldwide last quarter, helping boost its profits 34 percent.