EU Customs Seize PS3s

Slightly alarming news for anyone who doesn’t already have a PlayStation 3 but wants one. Or, for that matter, anyone who has just suffered the Yellow Light of Death. It’s even slightly alarming if you were thinking of upgrading to a nice slim model.

Word has it, via MCV, that EU Customs officers have seized PlayStation 3 consoles at the request of LG Electronics who are currently embroiled in a heated legal dispute with Sony over the use of LG patents in the PlayStation 3 and in some Bravia televisions.

LG have asked European courts to halt the import of certain devices and now the civil courts of justice in The Hague have relented and agreed to seize any new units being imported into Europe. This will leave retailer’s stock levels under intense pressure as units sell out of shops and can’t be replaced.

According to the MCV report, Sony imports 100,000 consoles per week to Europe and, following these seizures, there may only be two or three weeks worth of stock left.

Time for a panic buy so you’re safe for the obviously impending zombie apocalypse? Probably not, these legal battles have a way of being worked out fairly quickly once profits are halted.

Update: We should have made it clearer that the injunction is only for ten days at this point so don’t worry too much…

Source: MCV

55 Comments

  1. Oh, fuck off LG. Bit late, aren’t you?

    • Seconded.

      • Wankers. I’ll defo never get me an LG product ever again.

      • Here here.

      • Damm it, got a LG TV and cinema set up! Bastardos!

      • Anyone want to buy my LG tv? Want to get me a Bravia instead, beat that for profits LG

    • Sign me on that list also!

  2. Which countries is that, exactly?

    • Any country within the eu.

    • All of Europe and the UK, as far as the Guardian website is leading me to believe.

      • Why add “and the UK”?

        UK is in Europe.
        :)

      • Just because people sometimes assume Europe means mainland only.

      • get it to Norway then the UK, it works that way ;) avoid the EU stuff as i think norway doesnt like to be apart of it, as on every japan site it says the EU and Norway

      • There’s some dim people out there, Kovacs, believe me :|

      • Holland pretty much handles it all so tricky for Norway.

    • I live in Norway and we are not a member of the EU so I will do some checking to see if it’s the same here.

      • I hate the EU! Wish we weren’t a part of it, but that’s a discussion for another day….

      • I wish were not a part of it as well mate.

  3. I bet the my 60gb will YLOD just as stocks run out. Hopefully this will be resolved quickly, I can’t see LG getting a permanent ban. Also, how has it taken them 4 years to realise?!

    • The smoking crack ran out. Unfortunately, they’re still high as kites.

  4. Love the overreaction to LG. They might actually be completely in the right!

    • Yeah well…YOU SMELL! :op

      • Actually LG has a load of patent suits against Sony for PS3 & Bravia, but Sony have loads against LG for their smartphones. Tit for tat.

      • @Dan Yeh?… and you’re ugly. Saddlebags! :-p

        @tuffcub Absolutely, fella. It always seems petty from a consumer perspective but these situations can mean millions of pounds for the rightful “owner” of such patents. Seems that most major companies are in and out of court more often than George Michael, nowadays.

      • then why take so long its been out for years.

      • This is the first time we’ve heard about it in the press. Doesn’t mean that forms of litigation haven’t been going on for months or even a year or two (let alone a multitude of other reasons we may never be privy to).

      • And yet some people think that our current patent laws benefit anyone besides patent attorneys.

  5. Wow…kinda extreme isn’t it? Can’t we all just get along!! =(

    • Getting along right now is kind of hard.
      considering a lot of people think we only have one more year to live, its getting harder and harder to form bonds when we would rather kill anyone that could take our supplies (if food ever becomes limited)

      hell, perhaps LG wants to keep the PS3s to themselves so they can create a destructive super computer and destroy Sony (thats possible right?)

      • Sony yes… but it could be much darker that that

        They’re South Koreans so you neva know…. worlds first destructive laser beam cannon, the North will certainly respond with WMDs? With that power the Earth is f**ked Japan will need to counter with Metal Gears! and er.. Mobile Suit Gundams! America and China? eh… I don’t know Star Trek and a powerful kung-fu army will do haha! While Britain counters with er… oh its been scraped.

  6. If I needed another one, I’d just buy it from Lik-Sang.

    Oh wait!

    • ha ha, very good

      • ahem, from the lik-sang website

        A Sony spokesperson declined to comment directly on the lawsuit against Lik-Sang, but recently went on to tell Gamesindustry.biz that “ultimately, we’re trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not – in PS3’s case – backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty”.

  7. So this means my PS3 actually went up in value? Makes a nice change seeing as my house price keeps on sliding :(

  8. so, some expensive ps3s going up on ebay soon then?

  9. lol, it’s funny, if it weren’t for the Sony PS3, I would never have bought the LG tevevision I am currently using.

  10. Next up LG demands access to all Sony’s computers and equipment, Sony responds with a Kevin Butler rap video calling LG out for a fight. :P

    • Please *insert religious figure here* make that happen. This whole situation would be worth it for a KB Rap Video.

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