The civil court of justice in the Hague has granted LG a
preliminary injunction that will see all new PlayStation 3s
imported into Europe confiscated by customs for at least
ten days.
As the Guardian.co.uk reported, tens of thousands of PS3s
were seized by customs officers last week in the
Netherlands, in a dispute that centres on Sony's allegedly
infringing use of Blu-ray technology belonging to LG.
LG argues that Sony PS3s infringe a number of its patents
relating to playback of Blu-ray Discs. Earlier this month,
LG has lodged a patent infringement complaint against Sony
with the US International Trade Commission , asking the ITC
to exclude the PlayStation 3 video game console from entry
into the US market.
LG claims that Sony has infringed LG patents related to the
reproduction of of Blu-ray Discs. LG also simultaneously
filed another complaint against Sony over its Bravia
television sets.
At the same day, LG also filed another complaint against
Sony with the US District Court of the Southern District of
California.
Last December, Sony had also filed a suit with the
organisation, seeking an import ban of LG smartphones.
If Sony is found to have infringed LG patents, it could be
forced to compensate the South Korean manufacturer for each
PS3 it has sold around the world.