Nintendo Company Ltd & Anor v Playables Ltd & Anor [2010] EWHC 1932 (Ch) (28 July 2010)

Nintendo Company Ltd & Anor v Playables Ltd & Anor [2010] EWHC 1932 (Ch) (28 July 2010)
This is an application for summary judgment in an action concerned with copyright infringement and the avoidance of copy-protection devices. The first claimant is the designer, manufacturer and distributor of the Nintendo DS games console, and the games that go with it. The second claimant acts as the European distributor of the games. The first defendant is a company under the control of the second defendant.

This case concerns a number of different types of device imported and dealt in by the Defendants (the accused devices) which enable Nintendo DS users to play unlawful copies of Nintendo DS games which they have downloaded using the Internet. Nintendo refer to these devices as "game copiers". The defendants have imported the accused devices on a very large scale. HMRC and Trading Standards have seized more than 165,000 game copiers intended for the defendants. The economic effect on Nintendo of the trade in these devices is substantial as each accused device can store and play copies of many Nintendo DS games. Genuine Nintendo DS games may retail for £20 to £30 on release.