Sony scored a victory in court over online retailer Lik-Sang for grey importing of its products. They warned that they would not hesitate to take legal action against anyone engaging in this practice. Lik-Sang had offered Japanese PSPs to European consumers on its website but the High Court ruled that they were in breach of intellectual property rights.

Lik-Sang argued that it was operating legally, being based in Hong Kong and having no trading presence in the European Economic Area or the UK. A Sony spokesman said “The law is clear; grey importing PS2, PSP or PS3 into the EU, without the express permission of SCE is illegal. Therefore, we will utilise the full scope of the law to put a stop to any retailers who chose to do this.”

Sony claims they are putting their foot down in order to protect the consumer from being sold hardware which does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards because of voltage supply differences. The real reason for the clampdown, however, may be due to the announcement that PS3s will not be arriving in Europe until four months after going on sale in Japan and the US, meaning that the demand is going to be high.