The Hague Court in the Netherlands has reversed an earlier legal decision that made it impossible for PS3 consoles to be distributed in Europe.
LG Electronics filed a lawsuit against Sony, claiming the PS3 was infringing on its patents. The company wants Sony to pay royalties on all PS3 sales, but as the lawsuit goes underway, a judge found earlier this month that there was enough evidence to put an immediate halt on all imports of the console in Europe.
Sony has aggressively fought LG’s claims, and now says that it has scored a legal victory. “The preliminary injunction against PlayStation 3 shipments was dismissed. We expect shipment to the Netherlands to resume without any further issues,” said Sony in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.
The patent infringement claim is related to the use of Blu-ray technology in the PS3. Even though Sony was one of the founding companies of the Blu-ray Disc Association, LG says it owns patents that relate directly to the Blu-ray player that’s built into the PS3.
The LG claim has appeared as a retaliatory move after it faced a patent infringement suit from Sony, related to mobile phone technology.
There’s a lot of bad blood between the two companies, but LG’s ability to stop PS3 shipments in Europe has been one of the most significant legal injunctions to ever happen in the industry. For now, though, Sony can breathe a sigh of relief.
