PS3 seizures order lifted, LG fined €130,000
But legal proceedings continue with LG seeking $2.55 for every Blu-ray device sold
Sony has won the first round of a legal battle with LG over a Blu-ray patent infringement, with a court in the Hague lifting a prejudgment seizure order on PlayStation 3 stock.
All PlayStation 3 units will now be freed and LG has been ordered to pay a fine of €130,000. For every day LG does not pay, the fine will be increased by €200,000.
According to the fosspatents blog, verifying reports by InsideGamer.nl and gamer.nl, Sony is free to distribute consoles across Europe - initially 300,000 units were seized at a value of €43 million. Sony is now expected to move another nine shipments of between 15,000-20,000 units each into Europe.
The latest order only concerns the prejudgement seizure and not the wider ongoing case, in which LG is seeking a royalty payment of between $2.50-$2.55 for each Blu-ray device sold by Sony.
There are already 47 million PlayStation 3 units sold globally, with other Sony hardware containing Blu-ray technology and allegedly infringing on patents. LG estimates that Sony already owes it up to $180 million for for devices sold.