Sony has online game shop Lik Sang taken to court. Sony opposes Lik Sang’s sale of the PlayStation Portable to European buyers who don’t want to wait until September 1, when Sony will start selling the PSP in Europe. Sony accuses Lik Sang of violating its trademark and copyright. Sony already warned Lik Sang on June 14, when the company posted the PSP manual on its website.
Lik Sang says he has Hong Kong’s trade regulations on his side: once a product is on the market in Hong Kong, it can be traded freely there, including with Europe. Pascal Clarysse, Marketing Manager at Lik Sang, calls Sony’s lawsuit the most aggressive action against its own customers in thirty years. “Sony wants to exclude hardcore gamers from whatever comes out in Japan or anywhere else in the world.”
Sony’s action against Lik Sang follows similar UK court cases where Sony took UK PSP importers to court. In some of those cases, Sony has successfully convinced the court that the gray importers’ advertising harmed Sony’s trademark. Importers such as ElectricBirdLand and Nuplayer have had to stop prematurely selling Sony’s PSP. Incidentally, Sony and Lik Sang have faced each other before when Lik Sang sold modchips for Sony Playstation. Lik Sang then chose eggs for his money, but in all likelihood will not do so this time.