Sony wins PSP import case against Nuplayer

By Games Industry.biz Published 20 July, 2005

So Nuplayer flogs 'em cheap.

Sony Computer Entertainment has won a High Court injunction to prevent online store Nuplayer selling imported Japanese PSP consoles - but the retailer has hit back by taking pre-orders for European PSPs at a reduced price.

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, Nuplayer's Kamal Sharma said: "We were very disappointed by the judgement, but we were prepared for it." He explained that the retailer had only a small amount of Japanese stock left when the judgement was made.

Following a series of delays in the case, Mr Justice Lawrence Collins last week ruled that Nuplayer had no arguable defence against Sony's claim that the retailer was infringing trade marks.

He issued a summary judgement ordering Nuplayer to pay substantial costs and damages, and to hand over any remaining stock along with details of profits, suppliers and the names and addresses of customers who purchased five or more PSP consoles.

"We brought the site down for three days on the advice of our lawyers, but we are now back up and taking pre-orders for European PSPs with plans to ship on September 1st," Sharma said. Nuplayer is selling the PSP Value Pack for UKP 169.99 - ten pounds cheaper than the RRP.

"Sony has no right to stop us selling PSPs obtained from sources in Europe. The same law Sony used to stop us selling PSPs is the same law we're using to legally sell European products," Sharma stated.

"He who has stock is going to be king between now and December."

"If Sony offered to make me an official distributor now, I would categorically say no, because I would have to sell at the RRP and would only receive a small allocation."

"Because I'm not fixed on price or stock levels, we should have a very good share of the market."

When asked if Nuplayer would face difficulties in paying the legal costs incurred by the case, Sharma replied: "I didn't even give it a second thought."

"What we lost in legal fees we'll make up in PSP sales between now and Christmas."

Sharma also confirmed Nuplayer's intention to sell import Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles, stating: "We will be sourcing the new consoles first."

Earlier this week, Hong Kong-based retailer Lik-Sang issued a statement announcing plans to ship PSP and Nintendo DS consoles free of charge to European consumers purchasing a game at the same time.

Lik-Sang is offering the PSP Standard pack for USD 249.90 (around UKP 143), and the Value Pack for USD 279.90 (UKP 160).

Sony has declared its intention to take action against the retailer, telling GamesIndustry.biz: "We have contacted Lik-Sang regarding imports as other infringers."

"We are actively considering legal remedies available to us and are approaching all known importers in the same way."

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Comments (36) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • texx #1 7 years ago

    sony, you are the best. love you!!!!

  • trevd72 #2 7 years ago

    the value of my imported psp has jsut gone up

  • abigsmurf #3 7 years ago

    The judge involved in this must have no idea about the consequences of his actions.

    It's now illegal to import ANYTHING with a trademark to the UK. Good going!

  • peterfll #4 7 years ago

    WHATEVER. Let Sony squander their resources on things like this instead of deploying them more effectively i.e. making the company PROFIT. No wonder - apart from their games division - they consistently make losses. It must be costing them a fortune in legal fees. Well done to Sony for redirecting profit away from themselves and into the greasy pockets of corporate lawyers.

  • HarryB #5 7 years ago

    importing isnt illegal, fuck, people can buy what they want... Sony are being idiots

  • ruttyboy #6 7 years ago

    Importing to sell is illegal, they're not going after people importing one for personal use.

  • drumbaby #7 7 years ago

    "Sony are being idiots "

    So are the people in trying to take Sony on in court, over this BS....unfortunately.
    Edited by 1 at 20/07/05 @ 16:06

  • JHuxley #8 7 years ago

    Ruttyboy is right - Sony are trying to stop UK retailers selling imported PSPs, not halt imports altogether. I still disagree with Sony's methods, but some of you guys are making a mountain out of a molehill here.

  • stormcr0wfleet #9 7 years ago

    Sony should stop spending all there £££ on legal battles and get the damn thing released, if they released it the same time as in america there wouldnt be a problem. IM fed up of waiting 1year+ to get consoles and games in the UK... one reason i will be buying a xbox360 is beacuse microsoft want a world-wide release or if not arnt going to be so childish over imported hardware... afterall, people with imported psp's are still gona go out come september and buy a game or two?... wich is what makes the £££ right :)?.

    sony = dumasses.

  • killyourtv #10 7 years ago

    Am i the only one who thinks this world wide 360 launch isnt gonna happen

  • peterfll #11 7 years ago

    I'll buy a UK 360 if we get the same spec as the US. I bought a UK Xbox not realising the progressive scan and hi-def features would be disabled. I wouldn't put it past any of the console manufacturers to give Europe a half-baked High Def solution.

  • trevd72 #12 7 years ago

    get it chipped dude and stick two fingers up to M$. then you will have the features you want and more.

  • onyxbox #13 7 years ago

    Am i the only one who thinks this world wide 360 launch isnt gonna happen

    Yeah, they'll probably delay the whole thing because of the PS3 threat and perhaps the sudden realisation that most people are quite happy with their PS2 & God Of War and would rather buy a PSP or something this christmas.

    This year's christmas belongs to the handheld market not 'next gen'.

  • Derblington #14 7 years ago

    JHuxley - You're wrong mate. They're going after Lik Sang too, and Play-Asia are already complying. Sony do not want imported consoles in the UK no-matter where they come from.

  • Mickyg #15 7 years ago

    So, we are idiots for being upset that the court has ruled in favour of a multi-national monster that wants to limit fair trade? Why is that exactly?

    Hey, lets just burn all our money and let Sony and friends charge us STUPID amounts of money that we could get, via another profit-making party, cheaper? It is people like you DrumBaby that allow rip-off Britain to exist, I am not one of these people and Sony have lost a potential customer here.

  • Derblington #16 7 years ago

    "Yeah, they'll probably delay the whole thing because of the PS3 threat and perhaps the sudden realisation that most people are quite happy with their PS2 & God Of War and would rather buy a PSP or something this christmas."

    I'm not. I'll take a 360 over a PSP and GoW any day.

    Over at TeamXbox they have a news article saying MS may not make the Japanese launch this year, so worldwide may not be possible. As long as I get mine I don't care.

  • onyxbox #17 7 years ago

    I'm not. I'll take a 360 over a PSP and GoW any day.

    A wise choice IMO, but I'm thinking the average chav that goes into Game won't see the 360 as anything 'that' different to Xbox (more like Xbox 1.5), whereas the PSP is a nice gadget to own and is perceive already as 'something new' and pretty cool - Just look at how biased all the retail outlets / newspapers / tv shows are towards the PSP... They love it despite most of the games being ill-suited dumbed down PS2 ports.

  • Xerx3s #18 7 years ago

    Sony? FO&D.

  • Derblington #19 7 years ago

    "also why is he selling imported xbox 360's when they will all be out on the same day, mabey he will be importing them to japan from here haha, makes a change."

    Games will still be released quicker in the US and I don't think the release will be on the same day. Over the same fortnight probably.

  • Derblington #20 7 years ago

    "360 and PS3 are supposed to be region free."

    I doubt it.

  • sturgeon #21 7 years ago

    blah blah blah. Levis did the same with Tesco importing their jeans. you get over it and move on.

  • Vin #22 7 years ago

    There you are folks.

    YOUR market leader. See how much they REALLY love you?

  • dj-danger #23 7 years ago

    This is getting stupid.

    Now I know why they call it the 'Games Industry'!

  • WickedDeeJ #24 7 years ago

    "Games will still be released quicker in the US and I don't think the release will be on the same day. Over the same fortnight probably."

    Right you are. While it is wonderful to think that the whole regional debacle will finally end with the near-simultanious launch of Xbox360 in the US and Europe, there is one fact that overshadows everything MS themselves have said on the subject: Namely that the third-party publishers have to follow suit. Unless MS has directly made simultanious releases of games in the US and Europe a requirement for Xbox360 development and publication, their good intentions will fall apart pretty quickly. The alternative would of course be MS announcing that the Xbox360 would contain no regional encoding tools whatsoever.

    I'm sceptical of both scenarios, frankly.

  • symmetry #25 7 years ago

    The root of this whole problem is that Sony Europe and Sony America absolutely hate each other. Sony Anerica don't give a damn that people are importing PSPs to Europe, in fact it helps them as their sales are higher. Sony Europe however are trying to do everything in their power to stop it because it will hurt thier sales come September.

    This is also the reason why top Sony America games like God of War get next to no marketing over here and vice versa. The two sides just can't stand each other and it's been like this for ages.

  • Zuiyo #26 7 years ago

    Hopefully the message will be clear to hardware manufacturers. We need global releases and more flexible compatibility standards. Come on now: air travel is getting cheaper and cheaper, worldwide distribution of goods is more organised than ever. It is just not practical to fight that. Go with the flow: create the same machines for all territories, with no features missing. Just make them compatible with different regional standards and make games playable on any console. Let domestic offices work around that instead of trying to divide the world into territories so they can be milked better. Let everyone get what they want no matter where they are and we will see some steps in the right direction towards games globalisation and games mass-market establishment.

  • bionutz #27 7 years ago

    Feck of Sony, this is Europe, liberty is deeply appreciated here!
    /goes to therapist to get hypnotic repulsion on Sony branded things.

  • JHuxley #28 7 years ago

    "here you are folks.

    YOUR market leader. See how much they REALLY love you?"

    Sorry Vin, but which console manufacturer do you think 'loves you'?

  • Teeth #29 7 years ago

    Stick it to them, Nuplayer!

  • dj-danger #30 7 years ago

    Zuiyo - i think you speak for an overwhelming amount of people.

    The problem with big corporations that are already profitable is that they can be hijacked by academics with no business nouse or acumen.

    The incompetant behaviour that we have witnessed is almost predictable, personality and machismo have taken over from profit and efficiency.

  • Darren #31 7 years ago

    It's dispicable that Sony are wasting time stopping imports in the first place. If they'd bothered to even consider Europe fairly in the first place instead of delaying the PSP six months due to 'unexpected stock shortages' (yeah riiiiiiighhht!), then the people wouldn't have had to import a PSP in the first place!

    They are only concerned with losing money on UK sales. After all the PSP is going to sell for the ludicrously expensive price of £179 here, isn't it, meaning more profit for Sony or am I missing something?

  • abigsmurf #32 7 years ago

    Sturgeon it's not the same as Tesco's vs Levi

    That case showed that importing a trademarked product that is available in the UK against the makers wishes is illegal.

    This case shows that importing anything trademarked can be illegal.

    Wave goodbye to free trade everyone!

  • dj-danger #33 7 years ago

    I heard that Nuplayer were going to appeal this decision, they do appear to have a lot of money to carry on fighting.

  • Bobby Dazzler #34 7 years ago

    seeing as Nuplayer are going to get approximately 0 PSPs at launch, has anyone actually took the plunge and ordered a UK one for £169?

    There's going to be a lot of unhappy campers out there

  • SlackMaster #35 7 years ago

    The way I see it, it's Sony trying to restrict fair trade so they can get away with charging us suckers more in Europe.

    Even if it's a bit late now it has already burnt many importers hands and they may well think twice about importing Sony consoles in the future.

    Also as Sony has been successful in intimidating many importers to stop selling US/Japanese PSP's what's to stop them going for games as well?
    Edited by 1 at 22/07/05 @ 12:16

  • Nuplayer #36 7 years ago

    Hello there.

    Just to let you guys know, Nuplayer have always been known for bringing in the import PSP in first and the cheapest(give or take the odd guy selling on Ebay).

    I would like for all of you to know that the fight is not over, we will make sure that we will sell the European psp cheaper than anywhere in Europe in cluding the U.K at £169.99 for starters.

    We will also be selling the games at £29.99, not a penny more, with FREE delivery.

    So dont worry too much about Sony and their rip off tactics, so long as Nuplayer is in business, we will make sure that in the U.K. atleast, the pricing from us will be as close as to buying it from abroad, that's my guarantee.

    Bring on September, owning a psp is going to be so much fun.

    Sony, as for you, Don't Hate the Nuplayer, hate the Game:)

    Nuplayer

    p.s. We will have more than enough stock as we buy from several suppliers across Europe.