Sony is filing a lawsuit against an eBay seller who it accuses of selling fake PlayStation 5 accessories, such as carrying cases for the console and its various peripherals, claiming that it has made unauthorized use of the company’s trademarks.
As The Game Post lays out, Sony’s lawsuit against eBay user “zaocuand-002” has the company seeking potentially millions of dollars in damages as it continues to target counterfeit PlayStation products being sold around the internet. eBay is but one of several platforms Sony has been combing through in its search for fake PS5 accessories, as it has also gotten into legal scraps with sellers on Amazon, Walmart, and other sites.
Sony has previously targeted “dozens” of anonymous marketplace sellers in its lawsuits targeting counterfeit PS5 accessories, but this latest eBay lawsuit specifically homes in on the zaocuand-002 account which has, according to The Game Post, sold over 9000 items on the platform. A PS5 carrying case is specifically mentioned in the lawsuit, but this listing has seemingly been taken down after the lawsuit was filed in October. Sony’s suit demands that platforms such as eBay “shall disable and cease displaying any advertisements used by or associated with Defendant in connection with the sale of counterfeit and infringing goods using the PlayStation Trademarks.” Alternatively, the company requests up to $2 million “for each and every use” of the counterfeit trademark, as well as compensation for its legal fees.
“Defendant created an e-commerce store operating under at least the Seller Alias that is advertising, offering for sale, and selling Unauthorized Products to unknowing consumers,” the complaint reads. “Defendant attempts to avoid and mitigate liability by operating under at least the Seller Alias to conceal both its identity and the full scope and interworking of its counterfeiting operation.”
Sony’s been getting pretty lawsuit-happy these past few months, as the PlayStation company is also suing Tencent over a pretty blatant Horizon Zero Dawn knock-off. However, the Chinese publisher claims Sony is trying to monopolize open-world genre conventions with the suit.
