European Customs Begin Seizing PS3 Shipments as LG Wins Injunction

European Customs Begin Seizing PS3 Shipments as LG Wins Injunction: "
Sony has been dealt a severe blow by a European court in its ongoing patent battle with LG. According to the Guardian, the latter has been granted a preliminary injunction on the import of PS3 consoles into Europe by the civil court of justice in the Hague, thus requiring European custom officials to seize all PS3 shipments for at least 10 days.


The report suggests that tens of thousands of consoles meant for the European market have already been confiscated by Dutch custom officials. The confiscated PS3s will continue to be warehoused until further orders in the case. LG could ask the court to extend the ban or even seek the destruction of the seized consoles. However, the likelihood of the court granting the latter, if such a request is made, is pretty remote.

The patent dispute between the two Asian electronics giants concerns the way several Sony products, including the PS3, handle Blu-ray playback. The import ban only needs to be extended to around three weeks for Europe to run out of its PS3 stockpile.

The matter is also pending in the States. LG filed two patent infringement claims against Sony with the International Trade Commission (ITC) in early February, seeking a permanent ban on the import of the console into the United States.
"