Citation[]
Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Computer & Entertainment, Inc., 1996 WL 511619 (W.D. Wash. 1996).
Factual Background[]
Plaintiff, Nintendo of America Inc. (“Nintendo”), filed a complaint charging Defendants Computer & Entertainment, Inc., Game Partners, Inc., and Joe Ng ("Computer & Entertainment, Inc.") with contributory and vicarious liability for copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition, in connection with the sales of videogame duplication devices. Computer & Entertainment, Inc. marketed game copier devices that allowed users to copy videogames for substantially less than the usual retail cost of Nintendo’s videogame cartridge.
Trial Court Proceedings[]
Nintendo moved for a preliminary injunction. The trial court found that the device had no other real purpose than to allow people to make unauthorized copies of Nintendo's game cartridges onto a disk and to play the game using the copied disk. The court also found that the sale of such copying devices would harm Nintendo's market. Moreover, the court found that there was a high likelihood that a player would be misled into believing that the [[copying] device or the game disks it created were sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo. The court held that Nintendo was likely to prevail on the merits of its claims, and granted the preliminary injunction.