In a rather bizarre turn of events LG have successfully won a ten day import ban on Playstation 3s. LG accuse Sony of patent infraction with regards to blueray playback, and Judges in the Hague have agreed to this temporary ban on PS3 imports into Europe. LG are also seeking a similar ban in the states to.
This latest patent row joins a long list of big names arguing over patent infractions. Nokia vs Apple, Oracle vs Google over the use of java to build android. Normally these sorts of things are just part of licensing negotiations. Simply a tactic to gain an increased margin for the patent holders or as results of buy outs from companies with stricter interpretations of agreements, but this escalation to actual import bans is worrying. As big businesses play hard ball and armies of lawyers look over complex licensing agreements, it only seems to be the consumer that will suffer. In the case of Sony and LG it seems even worse for the consumer as this is just the latest in a long line of tit for tat patent suits.
Reports already show that Sony has little intention on budging on their side of the dispute and LG are eager to extend the ban past 10 days. Is it long before we see shortages of PS3s? Only time will tell.
Definite belated congratulations to h0rs3y and terrilou who managed to buy PS3s for less than a tenner.
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