Sony has filed a lawsuit against an eBay seller, alleging that they sold counterfeit accessories with PlayStation 5 branding. In addition to shutting the store in question down, Sony is seeking millions of dollars in damages from the seller of the fake PS5 items.
Although Sony might not be as well-known for being litigious as Nintendo, the company has taken steps in the past to protect its intellectual property, especially when the PS5 was still a new console. For example, the PlayStation 5 is designed to let owners easily swap out the console covers to change how their system looks. Multiple companies who were creating unofficial PlayStation 5 face plates saw their efforts shut down by Sony, which also patented the face plates for the system in 2021.
Sony Files Multi-Million Lawsuit Against Counterfeit PS5 Product Seller
On October 24, as spotted by The Game Post, Sony filed a lawsuit against an eBay seller called zaocuand-002 for selling counterfeit PS5 accessories. Sony alleges that the seller utilized PlayStation branding and logos, as well as names, in an effort to sell “Unauthorized Products to unknowing consumers.” Sony’s goal is to place an injunction preventing the account from selling any more counterfeit PS5 items, as well as to disable the shop entirely. However, the real stunner is that Sony is seeking a whopping $2 million USD for every single use of the PlayStation trademark, as well as payment for attorney’s fees and any other related costs. This is notably happening alongside Sony suing Tencent for allegedly creating a knock-off of the Horizon series.
At the time of publication, the seller in question had over 700 items available for sale in their eBay store, though only about 40 of them appear to be related to PlayStation. The store doesn’t appear to have any legitimate PS5 accessories at this time. The stats indicate zaocuand-002 has sold over 9,000 items in the time their account has been active, though it’s not clear how many have sold that fall within the scope of Sony’s lawsuit. Even a single fine of $2 million would surely be devastating for most online sellers, but if Sony gets what it wants, that number could rise considerably based on the seller’s stock.
At the moment, it remains to be seen if Sony’s request is granted, and thus far, eBay hasn’t taken any action against the seller of its own volition. However, it wouldn’t be the first time that a court or judge has found in favor of a console maker in a suit like this. Nintendo has filed numerous lawsuits against Switch modders and pirates, and in more than one instance, been handed a multi-million dollar judgment or settlement.
