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Sony suing over PSP imports

F

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
Sony has taken legal action against resellers flogging PlayStation Portable (PSP) devices ahead of the official 1 September European launch. The consumer electronics giant has sent "cease and desist" letters to grey market traders that are selling PSPs to UK punters after importing them from either Japan or the US, where the eagerly sought gadget is already on sale.
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The Japanese manufacturer is claiming infringement of Trade Mark. But one reseller at the receiving end of the legal nastygrams, ElectricBirdLand, claims that key technologies, trademarks and software utilised in Sony’s new portable gaming platform have not even been registered by Sony in the UK. For example, the PSP trademark has apparently been registered by a small Bristol-based IT and design firm, called Owtanet.

"Sony’s failure to secure these trademarks could potentially lead to further delays to the European launch of the PSP, or could result in the costly re-branding of a product which has already proved to be a hit in the US and Japan," according to ElectricBirdLand.
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Read the rest. This is pretty funny.
 
Chittagong said:
I know how this ends. Even if Sony sues now, they'll be fucked in a year or two.

Remember: first EU bitchslapped Nintendo for 149 M eur.

Then EU bitchslapped Microsoft for 497 M eur.

They'll find a way to bitchslap Sony for an estimated nine hundred gazillion eur.
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The MS and Nintendo situations are different from what Sony is doing now though, but I guess you understand. :)
 
Is it possible to state which region(s) this actually affects in the thread's header next time. That being said, this is not news as the UK market has continually tried to squash importing for quite some time now.
 
Smiles and Cries said:
new GAF catchphase in the making :)
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For catchphrases to work they have to have some truth to them. This is like saying Rosie O'Donnell is the next Mia Kirshner because she lost some weight.
 
SolidSnakex said:
For catchphrases to work they have to have some truth to them. This is like saying Rosie O'Donnell is the next Mia Kirshner because she lost some weight.
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Losing weight isn't really viable for Rosie O'Donnell.
 
SolidSnakex said:
For catchphrases to work they have to have some truth to them. This is like saying Rosie O'Donnell is the next Mia Kirshner because she lost some weight.
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looking at the PSP issues then the PS3 online thread, it comes close enough to call
 
Let us not forget the horror that was the PSX....and the fact that SquareEnix is now making games for everyone's platform.

You don't have to be Mulder to see the similarities between Nintendo 1995 and Sony 2005...
 
Smiles and Cries said:
looking at the PSP issues then the PS3 online thread, it comes close enough to call
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The PSP issues.. maybe... the PS3 thread? I think people have forgotten that we didn't get solid info on XBL this far out from Xbox's first release.... such hungry gotta know right now minds....

GDGF said:
Let us not forget the horror that was the PSX.

You don't have to be Mulder to see the similarities between Nintendo 1995 and Sony 2005...
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This is gonna come off like damage control... but do we blame the PSX disaster on SCE? Or Sony?
 
DarienA said:
The PSP issues.. maybe... the PS3 thread? I think people have forgotten that we didn't get solid info on XBL this far out from Xbox's first release.... such hungry gotta know right now minds....
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Okay I will give you that, we don't know... but the talk sounds so Nintendo-ish
 
SolidSnakex said:
For catchphrases to work they have to have some truth to them. This is like saying Rosie O'Donnell is the next Mia Kirshner because she lost some weight.
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Where was the truth in fhuta?
 
DarienA said:
This is gonna come off like damage control... but do we blame the PSX disaster on SCE? Or Sony?
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Heck if I know, but you just reminded me of the 'power struggle' that was going on at Sony with Kutaragi's apparent unhappiness with the appointment of their new gaijin boss. How did all of that work out anyway? Didn't really follow it all.
 
Smiles and Cries said:
Okay I will give you that, we don't know... but the talk sounds so Nintendo-ish
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For it to sound Nintendo-ish they'd have to say they weren't going to do anything because it wasn't profitable. That's not what they're saying.
 
SolidSnakex said:
For it to sound Nintendo-ish they'd have to say they weren't going to do anything because it wasn't profitable. That's not what they're saying.
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That's true. While Sony and Nintendo provided the same online support, Sony at least tried to pretend they had some kind of AOL online service, while Nintendo just scared developers away from developing online games for Gamecube.
 
GDGF said:
Heck if I know, but you just reminded me of the 'power struggle' that was going on at Sony with Kutaragi's apparent unhappiness with the appointment of their new gaijin boss. How did all of that work out anyway? Didn't really follow it all.
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Well every interview Kutaragi's given we haven't been given any indication that he's unhappy... so if he is they are doing a good job of keeping it out of the press.

akascream said:
You were already there, might as well just keep fighting the good fight heh.
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How so?
 
SolidSnakex said:
For catchphrases to work they have to have some truth to them. This is like saying Rosie O'Donnell is the next Mia Kirshner because she lost some weight.
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So Sony is the new Nintendo.
 
Aww the silver hawks! Me like...

silver28sv.gif
 
Publishers trying to suppress importing is nothing new here. The two most prominent previous examples were Konami with MGS and Nintendo with Pokemon (particularly Ruby and Sapphire).
 
This brings to mind Reggie's best line in the Nintendo conference this year:

"Some people will say that I shouldn't compare worldwide DS sales to the PSP, because Sony hasn't launched in Europe yet. You know what, we made it to that market when we said we would. If they can't launch on time, that's Sony's problem... NOT MY ISSUE!" :lol
 
Teddman said:
This brings to mind Reggie's best line in the Nintendo conference this year:

"Some people will say that I shouldn't compare worldwide DS sales to the PSP, because Sony hasn't launched in Europe yet. You know what, we made it to that market when we said we would. If they can't launch on time, that's Sony's problem... NOT MY ISSUE!" :lol
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I'm pretty sure he said "that's Sony's issue... not my problem!"

Same idea, but sounds snappier.

Snappy like, "Sony is the new Nintendo."

Meanwhile, Nintendo is being bumped aside and reclassifying itself with "Nintendo is the New Sexy"
 
Someone's sure hostile. I mean, you (Sony as a whole) earn the money one way or another way, so why waste money on a lawsuit that can be used to help speed up the domestic release of the PSP? Applies to Nintendo too.
 
Juice said:
Snappy like, "Sony is the new Nintendo."

Meanwhile, Nintendo is being bumped aside and reclassifying itself with "Nintendo is the New Sexy"
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So:
Sony is the new Nintendo
Nintendo is the new Sony
???
 
Juice said:
I'm pretty sure he said "that's Sony's issue... not my problem!"

Same idea, but sounds snappier.
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Damnit, I have the presentation recorded on minidisc, and I've left it at home!

:lol :lol :lol :lol @ Sony for missing out on the PSP trademark.
 
It seems that Sony have taken this fight to the next level:

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe took today its fight to stop UK and European gamers gaining access to its new Playstation Portable console (PSP) to the High Court.

This follows on from the recent Cease and Desist orders issued to UK businesses selling imported PSP consoles to UK and European gamers desperate to get their hands on the product in light of a six month product launch delay.
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Full story here.
 
Another "funny" Sony story from a friend who runs the site jeuxvideo.fr (very big domain name here). A few months ago he started a contest to win an import PSP he had bought in Japan. A few days letter he got a letter from Sony's lawyers asking him to stop doing that or he'd be sued. He did not plan to sell anything, it was just the big prize he'd give away.
 
catfish said:
if people want it what's the problem?
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Europe's probably the only region where Sony won't lose money on each PSP sold.

"Sir, people are realizing they'll save an insane amount of money by importing"
"NO! NO! THIS CAN'T HAPPEN! SHUT EVERY SHOP DOWN"
"Sir?"
"NOW!"
 
I predict that in Europe they'll sell more games per PSP purchased than any other territory. They will of course find a way to spin this into a good thing, but in reality it'll be the result of low hardware sales because everyone else imported. Once games become available domestically, I think some of the people who imported their hardware will start buying domestic games (unless there turns out to be some compelling reason not to, like black borders or no 60Hz mode :lol - oh wait, that's the PS2 :D )
 
Danj said:
I predict that in Europe they'll sell more games per PSP purchased than any other territory. They will of course find a way to spin this into a good thing, but in reality it'll be the result of low hardware sales because everyone else imported. Once games become available domestically, I think some of the people who imported their hardware will start buying domestic games (unless there turns out to be some compelling reason not to, like black borders or no 60Hz mode :lol - oh wait, that's the PS2 :D )
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Nah, why would people who import a PSP even bother buying domestic games? It's cheaper to import, and you get the games earlier. And since the same people know how to import a PSP, they know how to import games as well.
 
Danj said:
I predict that in Europe they'll sell more games per PSP purchased than any other territory. They will of course find a way to spin this into a good thing, but in reality it'll be the result of low hardware sales because everyone else imported. Once games become available domestically, I think some of the people who imported their hardware will start buying domestic games (unless there turns out to be some compelling reason not to, like black borders or no 60Hz mode :lol - oh wait, that's the PS2 :D )
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What about the inevitable high price of PSP software in Europe compared to imports? :D
 
Kiriku said:
Nah, why would people who import a PSP even bother buying domestic games? It's cheaper to import, and you get the games earlier. And since the same people know how to import a PSP, they know how to import games as well.
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Convenience? Impulse buys? The experience of going to a retail store and browsing through their games, and picking up one that catches your eye isn't something that's easily duplicated online. You do have a good point though - in which case, Sony is doubly screwed, because they'll have both low hardware sales and low software sales.
 
Fuzzy said:
What about the inevitable high price of PSP software in Europe compared to imports? :D
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Well, Amazon UK has PSP games listed at £30... I checked the prices of some of the launch games (Wipeout Pure, Metal Gear Acid, Lumines, Ridge Racer) on Play-Asia and they're only slightly less money at £27.65. Shipping (plus the potential for customs charges) kills any savings made there.
 
Yes, but they should be around the 22-25 quid mark.

Sony are such twats. I'm glad I got mine on inport. - just wished I'd not updated my f/w though :(
 
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