Sony tries to choke off UK PSP imports
Sony has taken legal action against resellers flogging PlayStation Portable (PSP) devices ahead of the official 1 September European launch. The consumer electronics giant has sent "cease and desist" letters to grey market traders that are selling PSPs to UK punters after importing them from either Japan or the US, where the eagerly sought gadget is already on sale.
PSP can play games, music and films. Supply shortages have obliged Sony to delay the European launch of the console, originally due in March 2005, for more than six months creating a market for parallel import (grey market) sales despite Sony's opposition to the trade.
The Japanese manufacturer is claiming infringement of Trade Mark. But one reseller at the receiving end of the legal nastygrams, ElectricBirdLand, claims that key technologies, trademarks and software utilised in Sony�s new portable gaming platform have not even been registered by Sony in the UK. For example, the PSP trademark has apparently been registered by a small Bristol-based IT and design firm, called Owtanet.
