Post by: Pale on October 24, 2006, 05:32:14 AM
Lik-Sang.com out of business due to multiple Sony lawsuits
Hong Kong, October 24th of 2006 - Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony claimed that Lik-Sang infringed its trade marks, copyright and registered design rights by selling Sony PSP consoles from Asia to European customers, and have recently obtained a judgment in the High Court of London (England) rendering Lik-Sang's sales of PSP consoles unlawful.
As of today, Lik-Sang.com will not be in the position to accept any new orders and will cancel and refund all existing orders that have already been placed. Furthermore, Lik-Sang is working closely with banks and PayPal to refund any store credits held by the company, and the customer support department is taking care of any open transactions such as pending RMAs or repairs and shipping related matters. The staff of Lik-Sang will make sure that nobody will get hurt in the crossfire of this ordeal.
A Sony spokesperson declined to comment directly on the lawsuit against Lik-Sang, but recently went on to tell Gamesindustry.biz that "ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty".
Lik Sang strongly disagrees with Sony's opinion that their customers need this kind of protection and pointed out that PSP consoles shipped from Lik-Sang contained genuine Sony 100V-240V AC Adapters that carry CE and other safety marks and are compatible world wide. All PSP consoles were in conformity with all EU and UK consumer safety regulations.
Furthermore, Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan's official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few.
"Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europe's ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they don't see fit. It's the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it", stated Pascal Clarysse, formerly known as the Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com.
"Blame it on Sony. That's the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader. The Empire finally 'won', few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today."
Post by: Rhoq on October 24, 2006, 05:44:46 AM
Post by: JonLeung on October 24, 2006, 05:55:58 AM
I only shopped there a couple times to get console controller adaptors for my PC (man, I used my N64 controller on my PC for what seems like forever). They shipped pretty quickly the times I shopped.
I was actually looking at GKWorld at some merchandise just yesterday - looks like I may have to go with that or look for some new online import stores. I don't buy foreign games but I think I like Japanese merchandise unavailable here, like those pixelly Super Mario Bros. magnets and keychains and the like. I should get more. But not from Lik-Sang, because Sony is stupid.
Wasn't Planet GameCube affiliated with Lik-Sang?
Post by: Karl Castaneda #2 on October 24, 2006, 06:06:33 AM
Post by: JonLeung on October 24, 2006, 06:19:53 AM
Guess that'll be down soon...
Post by: Nick DiMola on October 24, 2006, 06:20:29 AM
Post by: NWR_Lindy on October 24, 2006, 06:25:03 AM
Funny how they always goes on about being the brand that's dedicated to the hardcore gamer, and then they turn around and shut down a website that caters STRICTLY to hardcore gamers. It makes sense from a business standpoint, since L-S was technically taking sales from them (although I'm sure the numbers were miniscule); but from a PR standpoint it's one of the worst things they could have done. It's not like mainstream people are ordering from Lik-Sang, hell they wouldn't even know about it.
Leave it to Sony to hurt their core audience in the name of the almighty dollar. And God bless them for being dicks just because they can.
Post by: Avinash_Tyagi on October 24, 2006, 06:32:49 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on October 24, 2006, 06:42:00 AM
Believe me when I say that Europe is already pissed off enough about being passed up for launch of the PS3. This is just more icing on the cake.
In any case, the Wii will launch unchecked in Europe as the next big console.
Post by: couchmonkey on October 24, 2006, 06:55:40 AM
Post by: UniversalJuan on October 24, 2006, 06:55:56 AM
Post by: ShyGuy on October 24, 2006, 07:10:33 AM
Post by: Avinash_Tyagi on October 24, 2006, 07:15:05 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: ShyGuy
Wow, how is Sony able to keep topping itself? I fully expect them to start kicking puppies before the PS3 launches.
Didn't you know? They start everyday with a Bowl of Puppies for breakfast
Post by: Smoke39 on October 24, 2006, 07:35:07 AM
Post by: MaryJane on October 24, 2006, 07:40:58 AM
sony = hitler.
Post by: Mario on October 24, 2006, 07:41:30 AM
Post by: KDR_11k on October 24, 2006, 08:02:27 AM
Though I don't get how Lik-Sang goes from "can't ship consoles" to "we're going out of business". How many people actually import consoles instead of buying them local, chipping them and importing only the games?
OTOH, didn't Lik-Sang "go out of business" when they were stopped from selling modchips, too?
Post by: Ian Sane on October 24, 2006, 08:03:01 AM
Of course all my sound and fury is signifying nothing since I was never going to buy a PS3 anyway.
Post by: Zach on October 24, 2006, 08:03:11 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Smoke39
So is Lik-Sang completely gone, or are they just not allowed to sell PSPs?
According to the article, lik-sang is gone.
I think My sentiments on the idea have been thoroughly discussed, but I'll say it anyway. FU*K SONY
Post by: JonLeung on October 24, 2006, 08:30:21 AM
Post by: TMW on October 24, 2006, 08:36:17 AM
Post by: Kairon on October 24, 2006, 08:36:49 AM
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Dirk Temporo on October 24, 2006, 09:03:05 AM
Die plz.
Sincerely,
Dirk
Post by: wandering on October 24, 2006, 09:09:50 AM
Quote
The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few.
Revealing private customer information is pretty low....but oh man is it justified in this case. Screw Sony. I knew about the legal troubles, but I never imagined it would lead to them going out of business.
RIP Lik-Sang.
Post by: wanclering on October 24, 2006, 09:17:22 AM
Post by: Ceric on October 24, 2006, 09:31:51 AM
Whats next? Are they going to go after GameFly? I sure hope not but it's in line with there thinking.
Personally I think Nintendo should learn from this and have official importing for there system. Allow you to order the whole catalog of games online and be done with it.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on October 24, 2006, 09:51:15 AM
Post by: decoyman on October 24, 2006, 09:52:43 AM
Post by: BiLdItUp1 on October 24, 2006, 10:07:54 AM
Post by: wandering on October 24, 2006, 10:23:53 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: decoyman
Yeah, I'd like to know how the court was able to rule in Sony's favor. What's illegal about re-selling systems you legally bought yourself? Is there something I don't know?
I think there was $ome kind of $erious i$$ue with $afety $tandards or $omething.
By the by, I ran across an interesting theory on the internets that this is just a big publicity stunt. I would quite enjoy such a twist.
Post by: Pale on October 24, 2006, 10:24:07 AM
If everyone imported the system, would there be major issues in Sony Europe? You bet.
Is the number of people that do import things high enough to warrant this kind of action? Probably not.
Though I far from agree with what Sony is doing, legally, I don't have a problem with how the courts ruled. I'm confused as to why Lik-Sang has to shut down though. This does almost seem like they are trying to drum up press for a counter suit. They could easily stop selling Sony products to Europe and still turn a profit. They claim that they are assuming similar lawsuits are going to come flowing in, but who closes a business down based on something that might happen?
Something is fishy here.
Post by: archioverload on October 24, 2006, 10:40:02 AM
Quote
In a statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony has denied any responsibility for the closure of Lik-Sang - accusing the online retailer of "sour grapes".
The statement begins by observing that Sony Computer Entertainment has successfully sued Pacific Game Technology, which uses Lik-Sang as one of its trading names, for infringing intellectual property rights.
"Lik-Sang did not contest this case (i.e. they did not turn up and therefore incurred no legal costs). We have been awarded substantial costs against Lik-Sang which have not been paid," the statement claims.
"We would therefore strongly deny that our actions have had anything to do with this website closing (we assume the legal entity is still trading), and would suggest that this release is sour grapes on behalf of Lik-Sang which is aimed to belittle Sony Computer Entertainment and the British judicial system that found against them."
The salt of evil. Grrrr.
Hey, have you heard that up is actually down?
Post by: Kairon on October 24, 2006, 10:40:41 AM
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Jome20 on October 24, 2006, 12:03:24 PM
This is a rather dissappointing and frustrating news from my perspective as I had made at least a few purchases from Lik-Sang in the past year or so. And I had intentions of picking up "Jump Ultimate Stars" from them next month.
At this point all I can say is that Sony can Lik-Sang my balls...
Post by: Jin-X on October 24, 2006, 12:32:56 PM
Post by: Ian Sane on October 24, 2006, 12:59:44 PM
Post by: therat on October 24, 2006, 01:05:27 PM
Post by: WuTangTurtle on October 24, 2006, 01:12:44 PM
I too have purchased a handful of stuff over the years through Lik-Sang and I now wonder if Sony will go after Play-Asia and all the other import stores?
The thing that pisses me off the most is that most ppl use Lik-Sang as a way of getting a game that won't show up in there territory. I'm not sure but if you imported a PSP doesn't that mean u can't play domestic games due to the firmware updating? If so wouldn't that mean those ppl would eventually become double dippers for Sony?
Post by: JonLeung on October 24, 2006, 01:13:03 PM
If governments were unified, borders dissolved, currency and language amalgamated, humanity would progress a lot faster by focusing on real worldly issues instead of bickering amongst each other about trivial things.
But that's off-topic.
This is on-topic: Sony sucks. But we all knew that. And Ian's right...who would support Sony in this particular instance of stupidity?
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on October 24, 2006, 01:15:32 PM
Post by: Ceric on October 24, 2006, 01:28:37 PM
Suffice it to say, I don't think that if they have the proper papers to import/export and the company is willing to sale the product to them for resale then I do not believe that there is any problem in doing so. The company can just stop selling to them. That is how it should work.
Post by: NWR_Lindy on October 24, 2006, 02:28:48 PM
Post by: Jonnyboy117 on October 24, 2006, 02:47:19 PM
-------------------------------------------------------
Lik Sang's sales of Sony PSP Consoles illegal,
according to London High Court Judge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hong Kong, October 20th of 2006 - Lik-Sang.com, leading online retailer for
videogame systems, games and cutting-edge gaming gear, was today informed
that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc have obtained a judgment in the High Court of London
ruling PSP sales of the popular web store to the UK and the European
Economic Area (EEA) unlawful.
The court hearing took place on October 9 at the High Court of London,
without Lik-Sang's legal representatives attending or arguing at the
hearing. It is unclear at this point if this ruling will also affect exports
of PlayStation 3 and other PlayStation-branded items. Furthermore, Sony
intends to obtain an UK injunction against Lik-Sang's sales to the EEA.
The legal battle with Sony over Lik-Sang's legitimate exporting activities
started during August 2005. Sony complained about the sales of PSP
(PlayStation Portable) systems to Europe and launched a lawsuit in the High
Court of Hong Kong, arguing that Lik-Sang advertises the Sony products "in a
dishonest manner" and "unlawfully interferes with Sony's economical
interests". They further launched a completely separate lawsuit against the
Hong Kong based company in the courts of England for selling PSP consoles to
customers in Europe and the UK, and also for mirroring the freely available
PSP user guides on their servers alleging copyright infringement.
Hong Kong's laws are clear when it comes to parallel trade, and the company
has no ties whatsoever with the UK. While Lik-Sang vigorously contested the
UK's jurisdiction over the allegations, the judge apparently found that UK
law should also apply to Hong Kong exporters. Sony has also threatened Lik
Sang recently to initiate yet another lawsuit to prevent the sales of
PlayStation 3 consoles to Europe.
How this decision will affect Lik-Sang's business is not entirely known at
this time. The retailer is currently exploring its legal options and
analyzing the consequences of this ruling.
"Fighting multiple lawsuits in different countries at the same time and
paying high premiums to expensive lawyers is an overwhelming situation for a
small company like Lik Sang. Launching separate court actions with separate
claims and different judges is completely unnecessary, except for the fact
that it helps reaching one single target: outspend Lik-Sang to death. Pay
beyond", said Pascal Clarysse, Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com, clearly
annoyed by the unfair situation. "And contrary to their claim, I don't
believe they are suffering 'losses and damages' through Lik-Sang's
activity".
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post by: oohhboy on October 24, 2006, 03:28:44 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Rhoq
Fu*k Sony.
Amen to that.
I have never shopped at LK, but I import alot of my stuff from other channels. It just reaffirms my view that a sale is a sale anywhere.
Post by: getter77 on October 24, 2006, 04:00:08 PM
No way Lik-Sang of all places has to coffers overflowing to the point that they can have scores of lawyers in scores of courthouses all around the same time to even begin to defend. My own personal situation has me stuck against somewhat similar tactics...they don't even FIGURE on winning because they are quite confident that it'll never get far enough to come to that $$$$-wise...from the Antagonist's perspective. That I'm still fighting after 2 years is a matter of a personal stake...but as a business there's no way Lik-Sang could manage in a remotely similar way.
I know some mad SRW devotees and people that wanted ot get the home port of Hokuto no Ken...they'll flip out when they see this mess.
Oh, and you'll find plenty of defenders and celebraters on GFAQS at least...some even not appearing to be blatant troll accounts.
Post by: stevey on October 24, 2006, 04:47:06 PM
Post by: S-U-P-E-R on October 24, 2006, 04:47:32 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Avinash_Tyagi
Back in the day, Nintendo was a bit of a bully to other companies when they had the dominant position in the industry, now Sony is doing the same thing, hopefully the PS3 is their Virtual Boy
fixin' this
Post by: vudu on October 24, 2006, 04:51:10 PM
Post by: IceCold on October 24, 2006, 05:34:40 PM
QuoteChrono Trigger: Resurrection?
This is a classic case of having right vs. what's right. Sony has all the right in the world to stop Lik-Sang from selling consoles to regions of the world before they're released there, but from a consumer perspective it's just not right.
QuoteEver-shrinking?
The giant who can't swim is sitting on an ever-increasingly-small iceberg
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on October 24, 2006, 05:35:51 PM
Post by: BiLdItUp1 on October 24, 2006, 07:55:18 PM
Quote
"I believe they can claim that the imported units are, in effect, different units that function in the same way, thus violating the copyright. Saying that Sony is still getting the money doesn't necessarily work because Sony Europe is not still getting the money."
That is total bs. Fact is, copyright as a term is being abused by big corporations and rights holders as a bludgeon; this could be a case in point. See here and here for other examples of this.]
Wait, I just read Jonny's post...seems like the copyright stuff was secondary...aight, but still, the point remains.
Post by: BigJim on October 24, 2006, 09:01:36 PM
Post by: Klapaucius on October 24, 2006, 11:14:55 PM
I'm going to really miss lik-sang.
I've ordered from them a few times, and they're great. This sucks so much!! There's so much I want from lik-sang!! X__XThis is just Sony trying to get back some of its losses for thew whole laptop battery scandal. Ugh.
Okay, all and any remaining respect for Sony has been lost now.
Post by: Deguello on October 25, 2006, 01:24:54 AM
Sony wasn't smart. The way to stop people importing foreign systems before the local launch is to bring it to the terrirtory ASAP, not sue the place after the fact. It wasn't Lik-Sang's fault Sony made the PSP launch in September 2005, almost a year after the Japanese launch. Sony's customers in Europe were anxious and restless to get one and instead of supplying them they waited a whole year and tried to swarm the US Market with them. And the very fact that Sony's own employees used Lik-sang extensively is a chief point of hypocrisy. So it's good enough for Sony's own employees, but not for Sony's fans? Please.
This is crap.
Post by: KDR_11k on October 25, 2006, 04:10:38 AM
Post by: couchmonkey on October 25, 2006, 05:32:40 AM
Post by: Bloodworth on October 25, 2006, 06:06:16 AM
Post by: Nephilim on October 25, 2006, 06:20:08 AM
seems there is alot of flaming being done in this thread
geez its was lik-sang's fault its closing down due to dumb management, stop blaming Sony
Post by: wandering on October 25, 2006, 06:29:17 AM
Quote
Sony has already said they think Europeans are used to waiting and won't mind. I think as a protest it would almost be a goosd idea to buy both the Wii and the 360 ASAP
I was thinking about buying a PS3, then only using it to play used PS2 games and DVDs.
Anyway. I still don't understand how selling imported game systems in Great Britian was declared illegal. I wish someone had some quotes from the judge or something.
edit: here we go.
Quote
At the time of the October 10 case, the presiding judge, Judge Fysh, said: "The acts of which complaint is made have in my view been perpetrated not in Hong Kong but here in the EEA [European Economic Area], and without Sony's consent. Moreover, it would make no sense if intellectual property rights in the UK could be avoided merely by setting up a website outside the EEA crafted to sell within it. Were the acts of which complaint is made to have been committed physically within the EEA they would unarguably have been infringing acts. I cannot see how the electronic intermediary of a website which focused at least in part on the EEA would make it any less so."
Except that clarifies nothing. Lik-sang isn't off the hook because they're based in Hong Kong, great. How are intellectial property rights being infringed upon? Sony mentions stuff about safety standards and lik-sang misleadingly advertising the product so that consumers might think it plays european umds or somesuch. But what does that have to do with intelletual property?
Post by: AnyoneEB on October 25, 2006, 06:59:28 AM
Quote
arguing that Lik-Sang advertises the Sony products "in a
dishonest manner" and "unlawfully interferes with Sony's economical
interests".
Now there's a new one. Can I sue some European government for unlawfully interfering with my economical
interests by not giving me a million dollars? Sounds pretty sweet.
The copyright question was clarified in Jonny's post, but that only justifies a cease and desist, not a lawsuit. Suing for mirrored material is ridiculous, but reasonable under copyright law.
In the US there is a concept called the first-sale doctrine ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine ), which basically says that once something has been sold (say, to Lik-sang), the buyer may do whatever they want with it, including resell it. I assume other countries have similar laws. If Sony does not want Lik-Sang selling their products, they could simply not sell them to Lik-Sang in the first place. (I assume Lik-Sang was buying direct from Sony.)
Post by: wandering on October 25, 2006, 07:54:03 AM
Quote
Suing for mirrored material is ridiculous, but reasonable under copyright law.
But it seems like the thing about mirroring material was secondary.
This entry on parallel importing has helped clear things up for me. Apparently, buying something that is cheaper in one country and then selling it another country where it is more expensive may be considered a violation of intellecual property, if the entity that created the product doesn't agree with the sale. That doesn't make much sense to me, but there you have it.
Now, lik-sang argues that, since the practice is legal in the country they are based in, the ruling doesn't make sense. And falafelkid also argues that the judge may not even have the authority to give such a ruling, or something. But it seems like, instead of appealing, lik-sang is just saying 'bah, lawyers are expensive. Let's just close up shop instead!' Which doesn't make sense to me. If they knew they couldn't afford to defend themselves in court, why didn't they just honor Sony's request to stop selling PSPs in Europe in the first place?
Post by: KDR_11k on October 25, 2006, 08:44:31 AM
Generally a C&D is issued out of goodwill, the IP owner could bring a lawsuit instead. Though I think this was a trademark dispute, not copyright.
I wonder if Nintendo could have used that same trick to legally pricefix back when they were sued by the EU?
If they knew they couldn't afford to defend themselves in court, why didn't they just honor Sony's request to stop selling PSPs in Europe in the first place?
Because a default judgement can and will still include any damage claims Sony makes so Lik-Sang could be hit with damage claims and their Lik-Sang Europe stuff confiscated.
Post by: Klapaucius on October 25, 2006, 11:50:50 AM
hypocritical Sony methinks
Post by: Faithinchaos on October 25, 2006, 01:57:23 PM
But really, its quite funny that Sony refers to their goods as "grey market" when purchased thru Lik-Sang. As though Lik-Sang didn't purchase them through the exact same means as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, or any other retailer.
Sony could EASILY file an injunction to prevent Lik-Sang from redistributing its goods, or - I know this may surprise some - NOT sell three 600 unit pallets to the a Mr. Obvious Alias residing at
Broadway Centre, Room 2104, 21/F
93 Kwai Fuk Road
Kwai Chung, NT
Hong Kong
But Sony has to do it their way.
Like, take Nintendo. I thought they were bitches to get the GBA reader/writer taken from LS, but they had good reason, and they sought to fix the issue. I beleive they even recovered some "losses and damages" BS in the matter. LS however is not overreacting now, because Sony chose to sue to set a precedent, and follow through based upon that. Now region J PSPs can be illegal to distribute in the same vein - that the adaptors haven't passed some regulation or whatnot. Funny, any Japanese retailer can price gouge without hesitation, limit, nor any need to restrain whatsoever. But LS won't be able to export them?
How incredible to see LS call out Sony's execs. I might beleive they purchased them for the reasons given, but still - if somebody's screwing up, you don't hand them your money. Not where *I* come from, at least.
"We are very serious about the privacy of our members!" -from Lik-Sang Website. Its just text, but seriously, they're going out of business or they wouldn't rat. Awesome last hurrah tho. I hope PGC can secure somebody else soon!
Post by: wandering on October 25, 2006, 02:22:29 PM
Quote
Unlike those on the black market, grey market goods are not illegal. Instead, they are being sold outside of normal distribution channels by companies which may have no relationship with the producer of the goods. Frequently this form of parallel import occurs when the price of an item is significantly higher in one country than another; this situation commonly occurs with cigarettes and electronic equipment such as cameras.
I'm back to completely not understanding this lawsuit.
Post by: Nephilim on October 26, 2006, 04:31:16 AM
"1. CE Marking on a product is a manufacturer's declaration that the product complies with the essential requirements of the relevant European health, safety and environmental protection legislation, in practice by many of the so-called Product Directives.*
*Product Directives contains the "essential requirements" and/or "performance levels" and "Harmonized Standards" to which the products must conform. Harmonized Standards are the technical specifications (European Standards or Harmonization Documents) which are established by several European standards agencies (CEN, CENELEC, etc).
CEN stands for European Committee for Standardization.
CENELEC stands for European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization.
2. CE Marking on a product indicates to governmental officials that the product may be legally placed on the market in their country.
3. CE Marking on a product ensures the free movement of the product within the EFTA & European Union (EU) single market (total 28 countries), and
4. CE Marking on a product permits the withdrawal of the non-conforming products by customs and enforcement/vigilance authorities."
notice number 4, Japanese PSP didnt have a CE logo
which makes me wonder if the japanese DS has approval
Post by: Ceric on October 26, 2006, 05:41:52 AM
Post by: KDR_11k on October 26, 2006, 09:23:24 AM
And I really don't think CE certification is necessary for imports, that was just Sony spouting BS and I'm not sure the judge even accepted that claim (though you can claim black is white when the defendant doesn't show up).
Post by: wandering on October 26, 2006, 11:07:10 AM
Wikipedia is full of crap. Here's the deal. Compaines don’t want anyone to be able to buy products in one region, where they’re cheaper, and sell them in another region, where they’re more expensive. So, they say importers who do this violate trademark laws.
…‘Huh?' you say. ‘What does selling legitimately purchased, imported goods have in common with, say, illegally selling a book titled Harry Potter (TM): The Lost Adventures'? The answer is nothing, of course. The companies aren't worried about their IP - they're worried about their ability to fix prices. But, they wouldn't get very far in court arguing that they have a right to gouge consumers and block free trade... so they argue they have a right to protect their trademarks from being diluted, instead.
…I know your next question. How could imported goods possibly dilute the quality of companies’ trademarks? Well, let's say, for example, someone imports a Japanese PSP, and he can't read Japanese. Because he can't read Japanese, this person has no idea the instruction booklet warns people never to play with the PSP in the bathtub. So, he plays with it in the bathtub, and gets electrocuted. A man has died from a product with Sony branding, and it's the fault of those no good importers.
Some countries buy into this line of reasoning, and some don't. The United States doesn't. Japan and Hong Kong don't. Europe does. A product made for sale outside the European Economic Area (EEA) can't be sold inside the EEA without the trademark holder's permission.
Lik-Sang, of course, did not have Sony's permission to sell PSPs within the EEA. So Sony could claim lik-sang was infringing on their trademarks, and damaging Sony.
...That was Sony’s big weapon in it's fight against lik-sang, but it wasn't their only one. They also brought up unfair competition laws, false advertising laws, and even electrical certification laws, just to make doubly sure that the psp sales would be stopped. Also, to make sure lik-sang was as overwhelmed as possible, they even sued for a manual lik-sang had copied onto their website, even though lik-sang had already taken it down at Sony's request.
Lik-sang had only thing they could use in response: the fact that they were based in Hong Kong, where the European laws Sony was throwing at them didn't apply. But lik-sang was out of luck. The judge thought that, because they had a website that was set-up to sell products within the EEA, European laws should apply.
The rest is history.
Post by: Ceric on October 26, 2006, 11:13:39 AM
I have to say I'm getting to hate the EU courts more and more. They keep doing things that effect the whole world in the eyes of there own little piece. There like the Southern Baptist.
Post by: Faithinchaos on October 26, 2006, 01:22:32 PM
Actual, informative threads? On MY internets?
Its more likely than you think.
Post by: wandering on October 26, 2006, 02:46:13 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on October 27, 2006, 12:18:39 AM
Post by: UncleBob on March 20, 2013, 01:19:57 AM
http://consumerist.com/2013/03/19/supreme-court-says-reselling-books-bought-overseas-does-not-violate-copyright/
While this doesn't 100% apply to the Sony/Lik-Sang case, I immediately thought of it when I read this.
The only difference I see is that this ruling came out of the US while Sony's issues were with the UK courts. So, it's a positive thing for US folks. :D
Post by: TJ Spyke on March 20, 2013, 10:17:15 AM
It doesn't really apply to the Sony situation at all. Funny reading some old posts and seeing some people and the false claims about who was right and why.
Post by: UncleBob on March 20, 2013, 10:46:14 AM
This all went down because they were importing PSPs from JPN to the UK.
Post by: TJ Spyke on March 20, 2013, 11:30:54 AM
Post by: UncleBob on March 20, 2013, 11:43:27 AM
Thus, if we were talking about sales into the US, this ruling would cover the exact situation, correct?
Post by: Ceric on March 20, 2013, 02:34:10 PM
So... Lik-Sang was buying stuff (PSPs) legally sold by the IP holder (Sony) in another country (Japan) and reselling them overseas.Probably not unless Lik-Sang is based in the USA or this was tried in the US Court System. (I think their out of Asia)
Thus, if we were talking about sales into the US, this ruling would cover the exact situation, correct?
