Sony is waging a war against counterfeit PlayStation products, and one particular eBay seller has found itself in the company’s crosshairs.
The Game Post – which has recently reported on the platform holder’s legal battle against Tencent – reveals the organisation filed a lawsuit on 24th October against one specific retailer on the site.
The case involves trademark infringement and counterfeiting, citing specific examples like a PS5 Slim storage bag it’s been flogging for $89.50.
According to the manufacturer’s legal team, this specific seller has sold more than 8,100 products with an average feedback rating of 97.3%.
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We did a little investigation of our own, looking up the user’s account – which we won’t share here – and found the aforementioned storage bag has since been removed from sale. It’s unclear whether that’s because of this case or because it’s sold out.
But either way, Sony is not messing around here: it wants eBay to shut the storefront entirely and is seeking $2 million in damages for each counterfeit trademark used. It also wants its attorney’s fees and costs to be covered.
The complaint reads:
“Defendant created an e-commerce store operating under at least the Seller Alias that is advertising, offering for sale, and selling Unauthorized Products to unknowing consumers. Defendant attempts to avoid and mitigate liability by operating under at least the Seller Alias to conceal both its identity and the full scope and interworking of its counterfeiting operation. On information and belief, Defendant resides and/or operates in the People’s Republic of China or other foreign jurisdictions with lax trademark enforcement systems or redistribute products from the same or similar sources in those locations.”
We suspect Sony will be successful in getting this seller’s operations shut down, but this is likely to end up a game of Wack-a-Mole for the manufacturer, because we suspect other similar retailers will simply pop up in its place.