Netherlands civil court orders customs to seize European PS3 imports

If you live in the United Kingdom, or anywhere in continental Europe, purchasing a PlayStation 3 console may become a bit more difficult in the coming weeks.

The Guardian reports that tens of thousands of PS3 consoles were seized and confiscated last week, as per an order issued by the civil court of justice in The Hague, Netherlands. New PS3 consoles imported into Europe will be withheld from distribution for at least the next 10 days.

LG, the South Korean electronics giant, won its preliminary junction against Sony over a patent infringement issue relating to the playback of Blu-ray discs. LG has demanded an investigation into the PS3's use of the LG patented Blu-ray technology.

Should the court find Sony guilty of patent infringement, it is likely Sony will be ordered to compensate to LG for every PS3 unit it has sold worldwide, burning a decidedly unpleasant hole in the Japanese company's coffers.

While Sony could submit an appeal to the European patent office to have the ban lifted, LG could also submit an application to have the ban extended — which would equate to PS3s disappearing from store shelves. Sony has at least two to three weeks worth of stock already scattered across Europe, so the lack of fresh consoles might not be felt until the end of March.

While LG has declined to comment on the matter, Sony has issued a (non)statement. "We are currently looking into this matter, and cannot make any comments at this point in time," said a Sony representative.

Since Sony launched the PlayStation 3 in March 2007, the company has sold more than three million PS3 consoles in the U.K. alone.

Sony finds loophole in EU import ban.

When it was first announced LG had put a ban on Sony importing PS3s to Europe, many were fearing the worst; that stock might start to dry out, however, it now appears Sony have found a way to bypass the import ban.

The loophole found is that the ban only applies to singular countries, and not the whole EU, meaning all Sony have to do is start importing consoles to a country other than Holland. If LG want to stop Sony importing to Europe then they will need to impose a ban on most European counties, which will be a lengthy process. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.