Playstation 3 units confiscated for patent infringement

Playstation 3 game consoles confiscated

Playstation 3 units were confiscated last month by authorities in the Netherlands in relation to a patent infringement suit filed by LG Electronics Inc. of South Korea.

This was confirmed today by Yasuhiro Okada, a spokesman of Sony Corp. He did not disclose the number of PS3 game consoles that were taken by Dutch customs officials.

LG and Sony are competitors in the electronic products business, including televisions and mobile phones. According to the Financial Times, thousands of units were seized after LG managed to get a court injunction for a patent.

As a result, Sony may adjust its delivery schedule in Europe. The Netherlands has been the entry point for PS3 consoles for the European market. The Japanese company also intends to ask the court to remove the injunction according to a source of Bloomberg.

In its report last month, Sony said it sold 12.2 million Playstation 3 units during the past nine months until December 31. Its yearly target for the console is 15 million units.

The company's network products division generated 45.7 billion yen in profit in the last quarter, alleviating some of the impact of dwindling television sales.

The latest incident in The Netherlands show how competition between LG and Sony has gone increasingly bitter. Last December, Sony filed a patent infringement lawsuit of its own against LG in the International Trade Commission and a Los Angeles federal court. The move affected the shipment of LG phones which Sony claims uses patented technology.

LG meanwhile countersued on February 4, filing a patent infringement case against Sony Bravia televisions and Playstation 3 game consoles.

Posted by Melanie Mendoza on Friday March 04 2011, 4:29 AM EST. Ref: Bloomberg. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Shopping. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0