Report: PlayStation 3 Shipments Seized In Europe Due To LG Legal Dispute

Tens of thousands of PlayStation 3 consoles have been seized by European customs officers after South Korean electronics giant LG won a preliminary injunction against Sony over a Blu-ray technology patent, according to media reports. The injunction is now in place for at least the next ten days, and the civil court of justice in the Hague in the Netherlands has ruled that any new PS3s imported into Europe in that time are also to be confiscated. The dispute is over Sony's alleged use of the Blu-ray technology that belongs to LG, according to UK news site The Guardian. LG filed for an investigation into Sony's use of Blu-ray in its PS3s earlier this month. In the filing, it sought a "permanent exclusion order... excluding entry into the United States" for the PS3. The company could now choose to apply to the patents office and have the 10-day ban extended. If this were to happen, it would see PlayStation 3 consoles removed from high street shelves in Europe until the dispute is resolved. If a ruling is found in favor of LG, Sony could be forced to compensate the manufacturer for every single PlayStation 3 it has sold, costing hundreds of millions of dollars. The seized PlayStation 3 consoles are currently being stockpiled in Dutch warehouses until the 10-day injunction is lifted, or the case develops further. Sony's dispute with LG is not its only problem at the moment. The electronics corporation was granted a restraining order recently against George "Geohot" Hotz, a hacker who circumvented PlayStation 3 hardware security measures to run unapproved code on the game console. With big PS3 release Killzone 3 hitting torrent sites prior to its official launch, Sony has been forced to beef up its anti-piracy efforts.