LG vs Sony, Customs officials seizing PS3's from owners homes

dr.stevil

dr.stevil

[H]F Junkie
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/09/sony-ps3-lg-blu-ray-dispute

holy crap... I honestly thought that this would last a few weeks, Sony would pay LG and we'd never hear about it again. Apparently that's not the case.

Dutch police have seized several thousand PlayStation 3s at Sony's biggest European warehouse in the latest stage of its acrimonious patent battle with LG.

LG has won a court order enabling it to seize all new PS3 across the Netherlands – including those already in Dutch homes – in a dispute that centres on Sony's allegedly infringing use of Blu-ray technology belonging to LG.

The injunction means that LG is tightening the net on PS3s in Europe, having already ordered customs officers to seize thousands of the consoles last week.

Sony will fight to have the blockade lifted at an emergency hearing in the Hague's civil court of justice tomorrow.

LG argues that Sony PS3s infringe a number of its patents relating to playback of Blu-ray discs. The Korean company has been granted an investigation into the PS3's Blu-ray use by the US international trade commission, after seeking a "permanent exclusion order ... excluding entry into the United States" of the games console.

Tomorrow's court battle will be one of the first times the Asian giants have come head to head in patent disputes stretching almost seven years.

LG is likely to apply for the consoles to be destroyed, while Sony will apply for the blockade to be lifted. A court judgment on what happens next could be returned tomorrow or in the coming days.

Customs officials at Rotterdam and Schiphol, the main import points for PS3s for both the UK and wider Europe, are understood to have extended a blockade on two Sony shipments made last week.

Sony, which imports about 100,000 PS3s into Europe each week, is attempting to get all the restrictions lifted.

If Sony is found to have infringed LG patents, it could be forced to compensate the South Korean manufacturer for each PS3 it has sold around the world, which could cost hundreds of millions of pounds.

A spokesman for Sony said: "Sony was notified at the end of February by customs authorities in the Netherlands that an inspection would be made into imports of [PlayStation 3s]. We believe this is due to a petition made by LG Electronics, alleging that Sony may be infringing LG patents related to Blu-ray technologies.

"However, this is only a preliminary injunction, that has resulted in shipments being temporarily withheld. It does not indicate any acceptance of LG's allegations. We consider these allegations unwarranted, and will take appropriate measures including filing a claim of opposition to courts in the Netherlands. We will not comment on any further details."
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In people's homes? I don't know... struggling to believe that.

Maybe they were in the homes of Sony employees. :D
 
Psychotext said:
In people's homes? I don't know... struggling to believe that.
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same here... although, I'm not sure what the laws are over there for issues like this. I just know that I would be pretty pissed if someone came to my house to repo anything that I legally purchased. And who's to say that you'll actually get it back (or your console at least) once this thing is all over?
 
If the reports that are starting to come out now are true, Sony wins.
PS3 systems released back into the wild.
LG ordered to pay legal fees.
 
Apparently just the first stage. Seizure has been overturned, but they could still lose the lawsuit as a whole.
 
Cops show up to take PS3
"Should have brought more cops"
 
naninani said:
If the reports that are starting to come out now are true, Sony wins.
PS3 systems released back into the wild.
LG ordered to pay legal fees.
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Not only Legal fee's but storage fee's for the the PS3's that are in holding as of now, but this has been going on for awhile now with Sony vs LG, with Sony sueing LG of patent infringement with cell phones, LG's looking to take a stab back it looks.
 
Can you imagine if they tried some crap like that in the US? Coming to your house to seize merchandise you bought and paid for based on some stupid civil action? The outrage would be insane.
 
4saken said:
nowhere does it say peoples homes?
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LG has won a court order enabling it to seize all new PS3 across the Netherlands – including those already in Dutch homes – in a dispute that centres on Sony's allegedly infringing use of Blu-ray technology belonging to LG.
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:p lol
 
Damn, the cops are treating this like its some kind of drug bust. You buy something from a major retail store and then its considered stolen property?
 
AeonF1 said:
Damn, the cops are treating this like its some kind of drug bust. You buy something from a major retail store and then its considered stolen property?
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This is where IP laws are heading. They want to make intellectual property equal to real property, and they want words like "theft" and "steal" to apply to intellectual property.

Welcome to the retarded future. The rights of the many are being stripped to preserve the gluttonous profits of the few, and still these vampiric gluttons demand more rights. And here's what's extra retarded: some of the very people getting their rights stripped will rabidly defend these unbalanced intellectual "property" laws (even some people in this forum!).
 
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NKDietrich said:
Can you imagine if they tried some crap like that in the US? Coming to your house to seize merchandise you bought and paid for based on some stupid civil action? The outrage would be insane.
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They wouldn't have to come to your house, you would probably send it back willingly if they bricked it intentionally with an update.
 
I wonder how this makes Sony feel with they have been going batshit crazy on the PS3 homebrew community.
 
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