PS5 faceplate maker that told Sony to "go ahead, sue us" threatened with legal action,...

[midian182]

Facepalm: In a classic case of someone (almost) getting what they asked for then regretting it, Dbrand, a PS5 faceplate maker who told Sony to "go ahead, sue us," has removed its Darkplates from sale after the gaming giant threatened legal action.

It was back in February when Dbrand's Darkplates—matt black faceplates for the PS5 that gave the console a more classic PlayStation look—were made available for pre-order. The move came after another faceplate seller, CustomizeMyPlates, had to remove its products from sale and cancel all pre-orders due to Sony prepping lawyers who had already demanded the firm change its name from PlateStation5. But CustomizeMyPlates' products returned to sale earlier this year minus the PlayStation-like logos.

Dbrand wasn't concerned about suffering the same fate, taunting Sony with a dare to sue. It even wrote that the microscopic texture inside the Darkplates featured "a familiar-but-legally-distinct apocalyptic spin on the classic PlayStation button shapes."

But it seems the Canadian firm's hubris was ill-advised. It took Sony a few months to act, but that cease-and-desist letter has finally arrived at the faceplate maker's door. Part of the notice states Dbrand's products "replicate SIE's [Sony Interactive Entertainment] protected product design," and Sony seems to disagree with the claim that those button shapes are "legally-distinct" from the PS button designs—Dbrand suggests Sony might now want to go after Squid Game.

The Squid Game card. Can Netflix expect a cease-and-desist letter from Sony?

The Darkplates section of Dbrand's store currently shows only links to media articles about Sony's legal threats. The company has used Reddit to give a lengthy response that summarizes with: "we've elected to submit to the terrorists' demands… for now."

"In closing, f**k you and especially f**k Sony. Talk soon."

Sony's aggressive stance toward some third-party makers suggests it is preparing to release its own official faceplates, which Dbrand believes is about to happen. But most people are more concerned with being able to actually buy a PlayStation 5 without resorting to eBay. If you're a US resident who falls into this category, you could sign up for the opportunity to receive an invitation to a restock event.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/91793-ps5-faceplate-maker-told-sony-go-ahead-sue.html

 

[dangh]

Nothing surprising. Instead of providing their own shape (make corners pointy, or some extra cuts...) and other ideas, they just copied it 1:1, even with the marking on plastic. Obviously this is not right.

 

[Yenega]

I don't understand why Sony don't release black panels themselves. People are obviously interrested.

 

[Dimitriid]

While I don't blame Dbrand for taunting Sony for clicks I do blame them for not doing their homework and find out how much they needed to change the logo to truly be legally distinct and how much it would cost to argue it in court successfully against Sony.

But not all is lost I think they should release an alternate version that just has huge white letters on the black color reading "F*ck you Sony" in comic sans.

 

[Vulcanproject]

$20 off Aliexpress. Worked for me.

 

[Kosmoz]

I don't understand why Sony don't release black panels themselves. People are obviously interrested.

1. They sell the white version like hot cakes, so they have little incentive there.
2. On some things, Sony is rather slow to adopt/change, like VRR and some other things, this is one of them.

But eventually both VRR and custom color plates will come... some day, sooner or later.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

1. They sell the white version like hot cakes, so they have little incentive there.
2. On some things, Sony is rather slow to adopt/change, like VRR and some other things, this is one of them.

But eventually both VRR and custom color plates will come... some day, sooner or later.

Just like cross game voice chat, which took sony more then a full console generation to implement.

Keep in mind this is the same sony that has been censoring japanese games for several years, angering many japanese devs. They dont care anymore, and likely will refuse to ever provide alternative faceplates out of sheer spite.

 

[Yenega]

1. They sell the white version like hot cakes, so they have little incentive there.
2. On some things, Sony is rather slow to adopt/change, like VRR and some other things, this is one of them.

But eventually both VRR and custom color plates will come... some day, sooner or later.

They could just keep selling the white version and offer black as accessories, since when have Sony said no to free money? They earn tons of money on accessories for playstation to begin with.

They probably make PS5 Pro all black. I would not be surprised if they launch both Pro and Slim next year on TSMC 6nm or 5nm.

I have a PS4 Pro collecting dust, not sure I will bother with a PS5 we will see. PC is my main platform, I love being able to customize games to my liking. I hate when the developer dictates how I need to play my games.

FOV slider especially lacks on consoles in general. Horrible FOV in most games.

It seems that Sony is releasing more and more of their exclusives as PC games tho, so maybe I have no need for a PS5..

 

[veLa]

Sony's heavy handed legal team can shove it, but frankly, Dbrands strategy of goading them wasn't the brightest either.

 

[Uncle Al]

It's really sad to see such trivial lawsuits, especially on something that Sony was negligent not to provide themselves. I'm guessing they don't use focus groups to measure their products impact on the buying market ....

 

[m4a4]

Sony's heavy handed legal team can shove it, but frankly, Dbrands strategy of goading them wasn't the brightest either.

That is just part of Dbrand's public persona. And I'm sure it garnered them much more attention to initially sell more of the faceplates.

Though I was hoping they'd be able to tank this obvious overstep by Sony.

 

[Kosmoz]

They probably make PS5 Pro all black. I would not be surprised if they launch both Pro and Slim next year on TSMC 6nm or 5nm.

Most likely Slim is in 2022 and Pro in 2023, the Pro needs some RDNA3 in it, so that's why.

I'm a PC guys 1st too, but 2nd will always be PS.
They have to many good exclusives still on PS5 (and to few and much later coming to PC), so I am considering buy a PS5 at some point, although I'm not a 1st adopter, never was.

 

[DukeJukem]

So if I change the hood on my car am I going to get a cease and desist letter too if I start selling them? This world is stupid.

 

[brucek]

I don't know if Dbrand has the volume to do it, but I'd like to see this litigated to resolution. There is apparently no patent issued. There is no reasonable possibility of a consumer confusing a skin vs a console. Dbrand is not trying to fool anyone that it is Sony. In general you can not get a design patent on something that is essential to function vs form, and the skin matching the unit is arguably function.

I'm not claiming to be an expert on any of this, I'm just saying this maybe seems like less of a slam dunk for Sony than your usual infringement case and if they are not on solid ground it'd be a nice if a court told them so.

 

[grumblguts]

I thought it said White lives matter at first glance.
lmao well they do.
all lives matter.

 

[brucek]

This article reminded me of a smile from way back while reading the Blue Jeans Cable response to an attempted bullying by Monster Cable. It's still online:

https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/