You’ll remember that yesterday we posted up an article detailing how LG had managed to confiscate thousands of PS3’s and were about to ask the courts to allow them to be destroyed.
Well they’ve now had their court case and the result is good news for gamers in general but not so much for LG.
The court has now ruled that LG must release all the PS3’s by 11am this morning or face a EUR200 000 fine for each and every day they keep them and that they also have to hand over EUR130 000 to Sony for confiscating them in the first place.
Now again my legal knowledge is severely lacking so I can’t explain why LG have to pay a fine for doing what a judge agreed they could do, either way though the PS3’s are now free and Sony can breather a sigh of relief.
Not to much however as this win had nothing to do with the actual patent case that is pending and so the big question over whether or not Sony will be able to continue selling the PS3 moving forward is still up for debate.
Original court ruling
Nieuws | 10 maart 2011 – Sony heeft het kort geding tegen LG gewonnen. De rechter in Den Haag heeft zojuist uitspraak gedaan en bepaald dat de beslaglegging van LG op 300.000 PlayStation 3’s direct moet opschorten. Daarnaast moet LG de proceskosten van circa 130.000 euro betalen.
De uitspraak verplicht LG om morgenochtend direct bij de Belastingdienst te melden dat de beslaglegging wordt opgeschort. Voor elke dag dat LG dit niet doet, moet het bedrijf een boete van 200.000 euro betalen. Daarnaast moet LG voortaan eerst overleg met Sony plegen, voordat het overgaat tot beslaglegging.
De voorlopige conclusie van een roerig dagje in Den Haag is dus dat Sony de voorlopige winnaar is in het patentprobleem tussen LG en Sony. Volgens LG heeft Sony diverse Blu-ray-patenten van LG geschonden in de PlayStation 3. Daarover is geen uitspraak gedaan, want dit kort geding had als onderwerp de beslaglegging van LG op PlayStation 3’s.
De vraag die nu blijft staan is hoe de relatie tussen Sony en LG zal verlopen. De problemen zijn er nog steeds en het verhaal is dus niet afgelopen. Waarschijnlijk blijft de bodemprocedure staan en dat betekent dat de onduidelijkheid rondom de eventuele inbreuk van patenten door Sony niet is weggenomen. Ook is onduidelijk waar de in beslag genomen PlayStation 3’s nu heengaan. In ieder geval mogen de PlayStation 3’s vanaf morgenochtend 11.00 uur weer gedistribueerd worden. In Nederland én in Europa.
Here it is after it was abused by the Google Translator
News | March 10, 2011 – Sony has the lawsuit against LG won. The court in The Hague has just ruled and determined that the seizure of LG at 300,000 PlayStation 3’s right to suspend. In addition, LG legal costs of 130,000 euros to pay
The statement required to LG directly to the Tax morning to report that the seizure is suspended. For every day that LG does not, the company must pay a fine of 200,000 euros. In addition, LG will first consult with Sony now commit before proceeding to distraint.
The tentative conclusion of a tumultuous day in The Hague is that Sony is the provisional winner in the patent problem between LG and Sony. According to LG, Sony Blu-ray several patents LG violated in the PlayStation 3. This involved not rule, for this interim was the subject of the seizure at LG’s PlayStation 3.
The question that now remains is how the relationship between Sony and LG will be. The problems are still there and the story is not over. Probably, the merits and that means that the uncertainty surrounding the possible infringement of patents by Sony is not removed. It is also unclear where the seized PlayStation 3’s go now. In any event, the PlayStation 3’s from 11.00 hours tomorrow morning again distributed. In the Netherlands and in Europe.
Source: Neogaf
Last Updated: March 11, 2011
