Posted in: Games, Nintendo, Video Games | Tagged: Mario Kart, MiniCar, nintendo

Nintendo Wins Their Lawsuit Over MiniCar Street Go-Karts

Published Mon, 28 Dec 2020 23:15:25 -0600

Last updated Mon, 28 Dec 2020 23:15:50 -0600

Nintendo has won a lawsuit against MiniCar, the street go-kart company that has you driving around Tokyo as Mario Kart characters. The company released this statement today, which we have a transcript of part of it below for you to read, showing that they have won their case against MiniCar. If you're not familiar with the company or seen the videos, it was a tourist attraction where you could dress up like Mario, Luigi, Peach, and others, get in actual go-karts, and drive around with a tour guide as if you were in the game in a big city. Obviously, they didn't have the rights to use the characters' likenesses, so they got dinged with a lawsuit. We don't know what the future of the company is, but we're guessing they won't be going away just yet as it's still a profitable business. How profitable it will be without the costumes is another discussion.

Now I'll never get to pretend I'm throwing stuff at my friends in the streets of Tokyo! Courtesy of Nintendo.

Regarding the public road cart business, it was reported that it was regarded as a social problem due to its danger and the number of accidents, but the actions of the defendant company were the characters such as our "Mario" and "Mario Kart". ", Etc., admitted that it was done with the intention of unfairly utilizing the high customer attraction of the famous product labeling, and that the defendant's act falls under unfair competition and that the defendants have against the Company. It is extremely important for the protection and development of the content industry that the Supreme Court rejected the defendant's petition for acceptance of the appeal decision, which admitted to be liable for damages, and the content of the appeal decision was finalized. I am aware that there is.

The Company has requested the JPO to invalidate the trademark registration "Mario Kart" (Registration No. 5860284-1 and Registration No. 5860284-2) held by the defendant company. Requested a referee (invalid 2017-890047 and invalid 2018-890011). In these invalidation trials, "Mario Kart" is recognized as representing our products, and the word "Mario Kart" is also an abbreviation for "Mario Kart", which is widely recognized not only in the game software field but also by general consumers. On October 19, 2020, a trial decision was made to invalidate all of the above trademark registrations held by the defendant company, and it has been confirmed.

[Nintendo] will continue to take necessary measures against infringement of intellectual property including our brand in order to protect our valuable intellectual property that we have built up through many years of efforts.

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