QUILES LAW
  • Home
  • attorneys
    • Roger R. Quiles
    • Patrick P. Hankins
  • Servicing
    • Players & Coaches
    • Teams & Organizations >
      • Ebook
    • Content Creators
    • Businesses
    • Investors
  • Featured In
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact

Blog

MARICAR SPINS OUT AS NINTENDO LAWSUIT PROVES SUCCESSFUL

10/5/2018

0 Comments

 
On September 27, 2018, Nintendo’s blue-shell finally reached the Japanese go-karting company MariCar. The Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of the video game giant and awarded it damages for Maricar’s copyright infringement. MariCar, a popular service in Tokyo since 2011, must now pay ¥10 million (nearly $89,000 USD) in compensation and cease its use of Nintendo-related cosplay to promote its business.
 
MariCar is a well-known tourist attraction in Tokyo that offers street-legal go-kart rentals to users who wish to tour the streets of the city. The company also gave customers the option of renting out costumes to wear during their go-kart adventure. These options included costumes that mirrored characters like Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and other characters from the classic Nintendo title Mario Kart, undoubtedly in an effort to make the virtual game a reality for fans.
 
The game developer filed the lawsuit in February 2017 alleging copyright infringement and a violation of Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act. In its filing, Nintendo stated that MariCar provided users of the service with copyrighted Nintendo character costumes and often posted photos and videos of the customers in said outfits in an effort to promote its business. Nintendo believed the go-kart company’s actions were a violation of Nintendo’s intellectual property rights, since MariCar had been using the characters’ likeness without a license. The Tokyo District Court agreed with Nintendo and ordered MariCar to stop using Nintendo-related outfits in connection with its services and awarded Nintendo the requested amount of 10 million yen. Interestingly enough, the company still offers its customers the option of wearing other character cosplay like Superman and Spiderman – for now.
 
This lawsuit was not the first time Nintendo legally opposed MariCar. Prior to filing its lawsuit against the go-kart company, Nintendo filed an objection with the Japan Patent Office over MariCar’s registered trademark. In its objection, Nintendo argued that the MariCar trademark beared a striking resemblance to Nintendo’s Mario Kart franchise, and that MariCar directly intended its trademark to confuse the public. Nintendo went on to assert that the public widely interpreted MariCar to be nickname for Mario Kart, much like other abbreviated Japanese nicknames for game titles, such as “Pokemon” for “Pocket Monsters,” “Pazudora” for “Puzzle & Dragons” and “Sumabura” for “Super Smash Bros.” This colorful argument did not appeal to the authoritative body, as the Japan Patent Office maintained that there was no connection between the two trademarks, handing Nintendo a rare legal loss.
 
Nintendo has a long history of aggressively defending its trademarks and copyrights. The publisher recently opposed a United States couple's “Poké Go” trademark  that was intended for use in connection with clothing.  Predictably, Nintendo stated that the trademark would be confusingly similar with its Poké trademarks. More recently, the game developer sued a website operator over two websites that allowed anyone to play and download a number of Nintendo games for free. Over the years, Nintendo has shaped the gaming industry through its zealous fights to protect its intellectual property against copyright infringement.
 
At first it may be hard for passionate Nintendo fans to understand why the publisher has taken such an aggressive approach in defending against copyright and trademark infringement. From their perspective, the Japanese company is simply preventing supporters from living out their fantasies of a real life video game like Mario Kart and stopping others from making its older games more available to the masses. However, Nintendo is only doing what is necessary to protect its property and brands that have taken years, and substantial sums of money, to build. Without opposing similarly confusing trademark registrations, Nintendo, in time, could potentially lose a trademark that it previously held. Additionally, by allowing others to use its copyrights for their own businesses, the publisher would be losing out on creative control over similar opportunities it may have planned to provide at a later date and any profits that would be associated. Still, companies that wish to use Nintendo’s copyrights may do so legally by obtaining a license from the game developer, though the price for a license may be steep. In the mean time, fans will have to wait for Nintendo to make their dreams come true with a theme park containing all their favorite characters.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Quiles Law is an esports and content creator law firm headquartered in New York City, representing a global clientele.

      Newsletter sign up

    Subscribe

      Questions?

    Submit

    Archives

    June 2022
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    November 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    Categories

    All
    Aereo
    Ambush
    Apps
    Athletes
    Athletes Rights
    Basics
    Betting
    Bitcoin
    Blizzard
    Blog
    Burnout
    Business
    Business Formation
    Business Law
    Business Policies
    Call Of Duty
    CBA
    C Corporations
    Checklist
    College
    Constitution And Bylaws
    Content Creators
    Contract
    Contracts
    Copyright
    Corporate Law
    Corporations
    Criminal
    Crowdfunding
    Defamation
    Department Of Labor
    Discipline
    DMCA
    Donald Sterling
    Do's And Don'ts
    Due Diligence
    Employment
    Endorsements
    Equity
    Escape Clause
    Esports
    Exclusivity
    Fines
    Ftc
    Gambling
    How To
    Immigration
    Independent Contractors
    Influencer
    Info
    Infringement
    Insurance
    Intellectual Property
    Internet
    Interns
    Investment
    Ipad
    Lawsuit
    Leagues
    Legislation
    Liability
    Libel
    Licensing
    Litigation
    LLC
    Loans
    M&a
    Marketing
    Media
    Minors
    Mlb
    MLG
    Morals Clause
    Nba
    Ncaa
    Nda
    Negotiation
    New York
    Nfl
    Nintendo
    Non-disclosure Agreement
    Owners
    PEDs
    Players
    Privacy
    Pro Gaming
    Quora
    Regulation
    Representation
    Rules
    Sales
    S Corporations
    Small Business
    Social Media
    Sole Proprietor
    Sponsorships
    Sports
    Sports Agents
    Sports Business
    Sports Law
    Startups
    Streamers
    Substance Abuse
    Sue
    Supreme Court
    Swatting
    Tax
    Teams
    Tech
    Tortious Interference
    Trademark
    UAAA
    UK
    Video
    Video Games
    Virtual Currency
    Visa
    Website
    Wellness
    Yelp
    Youtube

    RSS Feed

    Contact
1177 Avenue of the Americas
Fifth Floor
​New York, NY 10036

(P) (917) 477-7942
(F) (917) 791-9782
Attorney Advertising. The information presented in this site should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor  is it intended to form any attorney/client relationship. Our attorneys are licensed to practice law in the States of New York, New Jersey, Texas and Wisconsin. Copyright Quiles Law, 2022. All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • attorneys
    • Roger R. Quiles
    • Patrick P. Hankins
  • Servicing
    • Players & Coaches
    • Teams & Organizations >
      • Ebook
    • Content Creators
    • Businesses
    • Investors
  • Featured In
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact