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Company that told Sony "go ahead, sue us" pulls replacement PS5 plates from sale, says Sony threatened to sue them

elliot5

Member
Ah.....ok. Bad assumptions on my part on the controllers. So there is a lot more to this. I imagine both Microsoft And Sony could threaten to sue those companies if they wanted. So I guess what it comes down to is that Sony feels dbrand went too far in copying their side plates. That and dbrand's cockiness about doing it certainly didn't help.



Makes me think this whole thing was planned out from the beginning. "No such thing as bad publicity".
its dbrand of course it was
 

Hoppa

Member
I dont understand how it affects Sony when the people buying the plates presumably already have a PS5....anyways,




A Christmas Story GIF by filmeditor
 

JackMcGunns

Member
Is Sony prohibiting it for companies that want to license the product from them?

Im really curious what the answer to that is.
A licensing fee means it’s going to cost more for you and me. That’s Pro Sony, yay for Sony’s bottom line, not any benefit for you or me. This move is not pro consumer at all. There was no R&D effort from Sony and the product is made for PS5’s benefit. Sony is actually going out of their way to stop a product that you and I can buy.

This makes for a good “Tell me you’re blind without actually telling me you’re blind”
 
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Topher

Gold Member
A licensing fee means it’s going to cost more for you and me. That’s Pro Sony, yay for Sony’s bottom line, not any benefit for you or me. This move is not pro consumer at all.

Ok.....that extends far beyond these side plates though. Plenty of licensed deals out there for consoles. Heck, third party games themselves are technically licensed products on consoles. That why they get the PS, Xbox, or Switch logo on their box art. Other examples.....

b3c9ab7f-35e1-4ff1-85b5-da4222468cde_1.4bf16e69071780c29bddb36bf2530269.jpeg
71wzMs-nLGL._SL1500_.jpg
71lNej29wCL._SL1500_.jpg


If that's an issue then time to dump consoles and jump to PC.
 

JackMcGunns

Member
Ok.....that extends far beyond these side plates though. Plenty of licensed deals out there for consoles. Heck, third party games themselves are technically licensed products on consoles. That why they get the PS, Xbox, or Switch logo on their box art. Other examples.....

b3c9ab7f-35e1-4ff1-85b5-da4222468cde_1.4bf16e69071780c29bddb36bf2530269.jpeg
71wzMs-nLGL._SL1500_.jpg
71lNej29wCL._SL1500_.jpg


If that's an issue then time to dump consoles and jump to PC.
Right, if the plates had PS logos, then I get it, but imagine companies that make custom kits for cars like tails and flares having to pay Honda or Toyota licenses fees. Makes no sense.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Right, if the plates had PS logos, then I get it, but imagine companies that make custom kits for cars like tails and flares having to pay Honda or Toyota licenses fees. Makes no sense.

It is a trademarked design. It might as well be a logo. You think Honda could legally sell a SUV that looks exactly like a 4Runner but with a Honda logo?
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
I personally think they should be free to sell those plates. At the same time, like don't poke the gigantic corporate junkyard dog with a battery of flesh-eating lawyers? Maybe that was a bad idea?
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
It is a trademarked design. It might as well be a logo. You think Honda could legally sell a SUV that looks exactly like a 4Runner but with a Honda logo?
There are companies that sell aftermarket bumper covers that look and fit exactly like Honda bumper covers but cost less money than buying one from Honda. If DBrand had the money to fight Sony they'd probably win. Sony requires the removal of the plates to access the expansion drive bay and if the plate becomes damaged during removal Sony doesn't offer replacements. DBrand probably has a pretty strong case for allowing the nominative fair use of the design.
 

Topher

Gold Member
There are companies that sell aftermarket bumper covers that look and fit exactly like Honda bumper covers but cost less money than buying one from Honda. If DBrand had the money to fight Sony they'd probably win. Sony requires the removal of the plates to access the expansion drive bay and if the plate becomes damaged during removal Sony doesn't offer replacements. DBrand probably has a pretty strong case for allowing the nominative fair use of the design.

There is a lot of legalese behind aftermarket car parts though and this does not seem to be a one to one comparison. In fact, we are talking about an industry that is regulated by the government in the US. I'm not sure I buy this idea that dbrand can't afford to fight Sony. Smaller companies have taken on major car manufacturers like what you are talking about and the law has established specific laws for aftermarket parts. dbrand spreads enough money on YouTube influence that I think they fight this if they wanted to, but I don't think that was ever their plan. This was all a publicity stunt.

 
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rofif

Banned
if you buy stickers to put on your tech you are a fucking idiot
I would agree but the only place I could see dbrand being useful is to cover the middle shiny part when it gets scratched.
I have PS5 since January though and not a single scratch. I am just dusting it veeeery gently because that middle part is indeed shit soft
 

rofif

Banned


this is how they should have looked from the start!
not only do I love the rounded edges, but those air vents are NICE!

Looks like shit lol. There is no improving original perfection!
I thing I am biased towards white consoles. Loved original 360 too.

And I am not sure but it might be designed without Vents and direct air in a specific way. Df even said so about ssd bay. Better to keep closed because the air is circulating there or something
 
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01011001

Banned
Looks like shit lol. There is no improving original perfection!
I thing I am biased towards white consoles. Loved original 360 too.

And I am not sure but it might be designed without Vents and direct air in a specific way. Df even said so about ssd bay. Better to keep closed because the air is circulating there or something

it's already proven that the side panels make the airflow and thermals worse by about 5°C

meaning having holes there will basically cool down your system by about 5°C, maybe not exactly that but close.

also these are available in black, grey and white
 

rofif

Banned
it's already proven that the side panels make the airflow and thermals worse by about 5°C

meaning having holes there will basically cool down your system by about 5°C, maybe not exactly that but close.

also these are available in black, grey and white
Ok then. Good to know.
I still don't think temperature concerns matter. There is no point making it cooler as it's designed this way most likely.

I think sony also wants to combat plates to avoid it looking like fakestation5
 
Their website is laughable. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if it was still the 1980s and thirteen year old boy had written that text on the back of his school book. :messenger_beaming:
Clearly their lawyer and their fan scientist are exactly the same person and not particularly good at either of those jobs. The simple reason there wasn't vents where they are in this new mess of a product is as it's already been shown, changing the airflow in this way does indeed cool down some areas of the console slightly but it does also heat up other areas too because you're expelling air that is designed to be used for cooling.
This was something that Gamers Nexus covered in detail.
It's akin to using those third party external fans that all consoles are unfortunate enough to end up with, just sticking three fans on and intake/outake is not something that you should be doing without it being extensively tested and and those results verified because it's just as likely to shorted the life of your console as well as it is to lengthen it.
If having the vents there is so beneficial after a day and a half of testing, why where they selling them without vents before? If I' bought one, I'd push for a refund if they knew they were selling something that is apparently damaging the console.
I have imagines of Anthony Fauci holding his head in his hands and standing next to the owner as he rapidly social medias* himself to death.

97K0Isb.jpg


*Yes, I made that word up but I like it so I'm keeping it.
 

rofif

Banned
Their website is laughable. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if it was still the 1980s and thirteen year old boy had written that text on the back of his school book. :messenger_beaming:
Clearly their lawyer and their fan scientist are exactly the same person and not particularly good at either of those jobs. The simple reason there wasn't vents where they are in this new mess of a product is as it's already been shown, changing the airflow in this way does indeed cool down some areas of the console slightly but it does also heat up other areas too because you're expelling air that is designed to be used for cooling.
This was something that Gamers Nexus covered in detail.
It's akin to using those third party external fans that all consoles are unfortunate enough to end up with, just sticking three fans on and intake/outake is not something that you should be doing without it being extensively tested and and those results verified because it's just as likely to shorted the life of your console as well as it is to lengthen it.
If having the vents there is so beneficial after a day and a half of testing, why where they selling them without vents before? If I' bought one, I'd push for a refund if they knew they were selling something that is apparently damaging the console.
I have imagines of Anthony Fauci holding his head in his hands and standing next to the owner as he rapidly social medias* himself to death.

97K0Isb.jpg


*Yes, I made that word up but I like it so I'm keeping it.
Exactly. Sony tested it and designed to be this way. It's like people sticking intercoolers to their PS3 back again
 

BlackTron

Member
I read some more of Sony's complaint and they even acknowledge they don't even have a patent for the design, by referring to a PENDING patent.

Basically, because they got ticked off, they sent dbrand a warning that we're pissed and will make your life miserable over this. There's careful use of words like selling faceplates with their "configuration". This all comes down to the "trade dress" issue. See the old Apple vs. Samsung case over phone designs.

It's much harder for Sony to fight them if they release a faceplate that's in a different shape and does not try to copy or imitate the PS Family branding which their faceplates have at an extremely small level.

From what I've noticed it's way easier to claim infringement on branding, such as the PS Family branding on controller buttons, than the shape of shells and such, but you CAN.

This is why a lot of unofficial controllers, even if they have a shape very similar to the bog standard dual shock, avoid button labels.

Dbrand should not have tried to mimic the tiny branding on the faceplates, and should not have invited Sony's ire. They probably would not even have had to redesign the faceplate into a different look. Now they are doing what the maker of my old SNES controller was doing when they added the zaggy ribbed design. Sony can't claim they copied their stuff.

If you look at how many other unlicensed accessories there are, including replacement console shells, a faceplate should have been a joke. Dbrand just took it too far.
 
A licensing fee means it’s going to cost more for you and me. That’s Pro Sony, yay for Sony’s bottom line, not any benefit for you or me. This move is not pro consumer at all. There was no R&D effort from Sony and the product is made for PS5’s benefit. Sony is actually going out of their way to stop a product that you and I can buy.

This makes for a good “Tell me you’re blind without actually telling me you’re blind”

Well your assuming that Sony didn't design the PS5 which isn't correct.
 

FUBARx89

Member
Wow. The new dark plates look like utter shite.

Tbf, I don't like dbrand. The whole edgy marketing thing gets on my nerves. The reddit thread about them having to remove dark plates from sale read like an angry teenager after their mam grounded them.
 
There’s so many places to get these plates. Dbrand just tried to get cute and Sony had to do something. These plates are all over eBay and Amazon and they’re probably cheaper than the dbrand version

Sony did stop someone else from making them.


“But then Sony’s lawyers told us it was their opinion, Sony’s intellectual property extended to the faceplates, and that if we continued to sell and distribute them in any country, we would end up in court,” the company continued. “This all came to light yesterday and we are now cancelling and refunding all faceplate orders worldwide… we are extremely disappointed about this but we have no other option.”
 
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nush

Gold Member
I've only skimmed this story, so I''ll just add my own.

You know how unlicensed third party PlayStation controllers don't show the correct button symbols? I worked for the company that caused that. Way back in the day late 90's we were making a killing off third party controllers for the OG PlayStation, so much so that we would be coming out on top on the monthly accessories sales charts by a massive margin. Now this was admittedly was because the platform holders didn't supply the market demand and saw the extra controllers, memory cards and cables as a very low priority so that's why they were harder to get and more expensive.

They tried to sue us (And the other 3rd party accessory manufacturers) but our lawyer Armour was good "Reverse engineering isn't a crime". Go read up on how EA made games for the Sega Genesis for more detail on this. What they eventually got us on was the grouping of the PlayStation Symbols on the buttons was a trademark. Thus money was paid to Sony, warehouses of current stock were destroyed.

Remember that lawyer Armour? We just changed the button symbols enough to not infringe the trademark. All loses were recovered as the market was booming and Sony had nothing left to counter with.

Sony:
371-3710165_135kib-700x710-wojak-crying-sony.png
 

Mithos

Member
Adding vent holes for 59$ and not adding dust fiters.🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️
They did, they are optional to add for you when you get the new plates, but they are included (at least that's how i interpreted the reddit posts)

Edit:
Yup... (https://reddit.com/qb1ayt)
At this point, you may be thinking, “Wouldn’t direct access to the fan result in dust accumulation?” News flash: your PlayStation already has dust inside of it. Still, if it makes you feel any better, we're including optional mesh grilles that mount inside the plates. If you choose not to use them as dust catchers, they also function as wildly impractical coasters.
 
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FrankWza

Member

ethomaz

Banned
I like this look on the DE:

WTox0C9.jpg
jC5JP1w.jpg


Except for the air intake, looks like crap. I guess its one of the changes they made to really set it apart from the official ones.
Looks better than the black one.
Still it looks bad.

IMO they are lacking a bit of creativity, no? Seems like they just want a easy way to sell plates.

It is totally possible to create cool places better than originals but they are missing the target in every try.
 
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Ryu Kaiba

Member
My ounce of sympathy for Dbrand dried up pretty quickly after reading their response.
They're a bunch of children, they once made a fake contest for $80k and NBA tickets with MKBHD and Unbox Therapy and had a relative of a staff member win the contest and then cussed out this small channel for calling them out on it.

Fuck dbrand.

But also Fuck Sony for only offering PS5 covers in white, I knew they would do this. It'll be years be for they offer another color but will try to sue others that do.
 
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