A dealer wanted to offer alternative side panels or faceplate for the PS5 at PlateStation5.com. After Sony’s lawyers initially referred to an infringement of the trademark rights and a renaming took place, all pre-orders have now been canceled.
The PS5 offers a feature aimed at gamers who want to customize their console, as the side panels can be removed and replaced with alternative faceplates. A few weeks ago a designer made it clear how such a custom console with the look of Spider-Man could look.
It’s quite likely that the PS5’s customization options will lead to a number of offers in the coming months. But the attempt of a first dealer failed in the beginning. He had the idea of selling the faceplates for the PS5 through a webshop called PlateStation5, which ran under the web address of the same name.
Sony was not very enthusiastic about this idea and prohibited the use of the name with a reference to the trademark rights. Without further ado, the shop was renamed CustomizeMyPlates. Sony was apparently not yet satisfied with this.
The dealer told VGC: “After only a day of our website being live, Sony’s lawyers asked us to change our name (at the time PlateStation5), due to trademark infringements. We thought this switch would be enough to keep everyone happy, and honestly were hoping so since we were already underway with our product development.”
However, the attorneys informed the dealer that Sony’s intellectual property extended to the faceplates and that the dealer could go to court if he continued to sell and distribute them in any country. “This all came to light yesterday and we are now cancelling and refunding all faceplate orders worldwide… we are extremely disappointed about this but we have no other option,” continues the dealer.
The retailer added that in terms of trademark and patent rights, it would be wiser to focus on offering legal console skins and other products, including stick-on skins for the PS5.
The PS5 will be released on November 12/19, 2020.
