PS5 faceplate maker cancels pre-orders after legal threat from Sony

[midian182]

TL;DR: Think of a games company with an overly aggressive attitude to protecting its IPs and Nintendo is usually the first name that comes to mind. But it seems Sony isn’t slow at setting the lawyers loose against perceived infractions, either. The PlayStation maker has forced a company that creates custom faceplates for the PS5 to remove the products and cancel customers’ pre-orders following a legal threat.

As reported by VGC, PlateStation5.com had already undergone a name change following a complaint from Sony that it infringed on its trademarks. After rebranding as CustomizeMyPlates.com, the firm assumed Sony would back off, but things got worse.

“Before we launched, we did our due diligence and were of the opinion, that because Sony only had pending patents on the faceplates there would be no problem,” CustomizeMyPlates told VGC.

“But after only a day of our website being live, Sony’s lawyers asked us to change our name (at the time PlateStation5), due to trademark infringements. We thought this switch would be enough to keep everyone happy, and honestly were hoping so since we were already underway with our product development.”

"But then Sony's lawyers told us it was their opinion, Sony's intellectual property extended to the faceplates, and that if we continued to sell and distribute them in any country, we would end up in court," the email continued. "This all came to light yesterday and we are now cancelling and refunding all faceplate orders worldwide [...] we are extremely disappointed about this but we have no other option."

CustomizeMyPlates had been working with UK and Chinese manufacturers to create the unofficial faceplates, which were to be available in a variety of colors for $39.99. They were due to ship within two weeks of the PlayStation 5’s launch.

All existing pre-orders for the faceplates have been canceled and the offending products removed, though it does still sell skins. The company says it is now "wiser" on trademark laws.

Back in July, leaked images suggested the PS5 would feature swappable faceplates, and last month’s official teardown of the console showed the part uses a screwless design that allows it to slide off with ease. Could Sony have its own customized faceplates ready and doesn’t want third parties stepping on its toes? We’ll have to wait and see.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87404-ps5-faceplate-maker-cancels-pre-orders-after-legal.html

 

[redgarl]

If Sony is owning patents overt the design and the blueprints of those plates, then they are in their right to do so. You might be surprised on what can be patented. A stupid towel with a branding on a reclining chair could be patented.

 

[kimo1]

One tyrant to rule all.

 

[Zinixo]

The harder they try to control outside products and the less they have backwards compatibility the sooner they will fall .I had the ps1, ps2 and ps3 at ps4 there was no backwards compatibility so there was no sale to me nor will there be a ps5 in my future.

 

[Evernessince]

Sony doesn't need to be right or wrong, they just need to throw their lawyers around and force people to capitulate.

You want to talk about the hampering of free expression and speech, look no further than the power disparity legally between your average person and any company.

 

[CrisisDog]

The Xbox 360 was the first console with a swappable faceplate for design changes. I think Microsoft needs to sue Sony for infringing on that idea, if they do happen to release something...

 

[m4a4]

Well, why the heck haven't they announced any yet then? It's a pretty crappy thing to go after people when you're just dragging your feet on something that's purely aesthetic.

As long as they don't copy the exact design Sony has, I don't see how it's any different than any other aftermarket part. Just looks like Sony throwing around it's weight and bullying at this point (minus going after the name).

 

[lvzx14]

Probably using nintendo's legal team...

 

[tygrus]

Can they make stickers that completely cover sides of the case so the panels underneath are still original?

 

[Thanthan]

If Sony is owning patents overt the design and the blueprints of those plates, then they are in their right to do so. You might be surprised on what can be patented. A stupid towel with a branding on a reclining chair could be patented.

They Are not in their 'right' to exploit a broken system that will award a patent to random ****. A patent is supposedly to protect People Who Come up with novel ways of implementing existing technology, or New technology All together, not supposedly to let a humongous company kick downwards by letting them patent a particular shaping of plastic that is in No way a technological avancement of Any kind.

 

[Dyson Parkes]

Except that in this instance they'll argue that said

particular shaping of plastic

is actually carefully crafted in such a way as to assist their new cooling system design, thus being a form of

technological avancement

 

[tellmewhy]

Japan doesn't have enough space for agriculture and rely on exports to buy food for it's population, that's why they are so nervous.

 

[Endymio]

Sony doesn't need to be right or wrong, they just need to throw their lawyers around and force people to capitulate. You want to talk about the hampering of free expression and speech, look no further than the power disparity legally between your average person and any company.

You realize you're only hearing one side of this story, right? If this company felt they had a strong case, I'm sure their attorney would have advised them to take it to court. They capitulated immediately, which tells me Sony's C&D to them presented a rather strong argument that they were in fact infringing.

As for the common man, you can file a federal lawsuit pro se for just $400, and an attorney is helpful, but not necessary, especially if the case is clear-cut. If you're sued without cause by Sony or anyone else, you can recover your costs and legal fees if you win, as well as compensatory damages for any losses thereof. There are countless cases of an individual or tiny company winning in court against billion-dollar corporations.