In what can be described as nothing less than bizarre behavior from the electronics giant Sony, they are taking the second online importer to court over alleged “unlawful interference with Sony’s economic interestsâ€?. The last company to suffer a lawsuit, in which Sony won, was Nuplayer Ltd. The ruling stopped them from selling imported PlayStation Portables in the UK and were stiffly penalized with the cost of damages to Sony.
Lik-Sang’s article reads: Sony of Europe alleges that Lik-Sang.com has breached Sony’s Trade Mark rights by offering the PlayStation Portable (PSP) for sale to customers in the UK, and seeks a court order that would prevent Lik-Sang.com from selling or offering systems, games and accessories to customers in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA).
Sony further claims copyright infringement and damages by mirroring the freely available PSP manual on the news section of Lik-Sang.com during early June. Sony UK warned Lik-Sang.com at June 14 to take legal actions, should the manual and any hypertext links to Sony’s web site not be removed. Lik-Sang.com complied with Sony’s request to remove the manual immediately.
They go on to make the following statement: “This is the most aggressive move against its own customers that a console manufacturer has ever taken in the 30 year history of videogames”, says Pascal Clarysse, Marketing Manager for Lik-Sang.com. “Sony wants to completely cut hardcore gamers away from items released in Japan or anywhere else outside their own country. A very active part of the gaming community has been enjoying Japanese gaming culture for over two decades, and that’s what the Empire is now willing to destroy.”
Daily business is unaffected by this lawsuit. Customers in the UK and elsewhere don’t have to worry about negative side effects or disruption of service. Shipping, Customer Support and Order Processing are fully operational and Lik-Sang.com remains open as usual. The sites news section will be updated as soon as the situation evolves.
