Sony Corporation’s (ADR) (Public, NYSE:SNE) legal mobile phone feud with LG, Inc. may be too costly for the hardware giant, as European customs officers have been ordered to seize shipments of Playstation 3s and all other Blu-Ray devices after LG won a preliminary injunction in a countersuit claiming the Blu-Ray tech infringes on several LG patents.
All new PS3s have to be confiscated as they are imported into the UK and the rest of Europe for at least 10 days. If the injunction was extended, it could mean a PS3 shortage, as retailers state they have roughly two to three weeks worth of stock. Tens of thousands of PS3s have already been seized by customs officers last week in the Netherlands.
Sony is understandly desperate, trying to get the ban lifted, while LG could apply for a court order to get the consoles destroyed – this is a highly unlikely circumstance however.
The entire mess has arisen from a legal battle between the two Asian companies. Sony initated it when the company had brought lawsuits on the South Korean company LG, claiming their mobile phones, notably the Lotus Elite, Neon, Remarq, Rumor 2 and Xenon models, were infringing on seven Sony patents. LG is the third largest producer of mobiles.
LG’s counter-suit against Blu-Ray devices is based on the fact that the Blu-Ray’s patents, which deal with high-definition receivers, and receiving and processing signals that are a way of dealing with multiple data streams (such as different camera angles, as well as a system to reproduce data that’s stored on a read-only device) infringe on four of their patents.
LG, Inc. isn’t finished, however. They’re petitioning the same from US courts as well. Stay tuned.
Jonah Falcon is a blogger for TMRzoo and GameStooge.com and covers all gaming consoles and platforms including Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP and computer games designed for Mac OS, Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. Jonah provides his readers with reviews, previews and up to date gaming industry news and rumors.
