A three-year-long court battle between Nintendo and a Japanese go-kart rental service has come to an end after a district court in Tokyo ordered MariCart to stop renting out Mario-themed costumes and to pay Nintendo $480k in restitution. MariCart, now renamed MARI Mobility Dev., was renting out knock-off Mario Karts and costumes, but Nintendo's lawsuit has put a stop to the rental service's copyright infringement.
In 2017, Nintendo filed suit against MariCart asking it to stop using the official "Mario Kart" emblems. It was also requested that they cease the rental of costumes that depict Nintendo characters. MariCart allowed patrons to rent go-karts and drive them on the streets of Tokyo, Japan while living out the dream of playing Mario Kart in real life. However, Nintendo saw MariCart's actions as unfair competition as it was not paying a license fee to use Nintendo's intellectual properties.
Over three years have passed since the suit was filed, and a district court in Tokyo has ruled in favor of Nintendo ordering MariCart to stop the rental of Nintendo character costumes along with the usage of the "Mario Kart" wording. The court has also ordered that MariCart pay Nintendo 50 million yen ($480k USD) in compensation for the unfair use of Nintendo's IPs. According to NHK, a Japanese news website, the order was issued on December 25th.
MARI Mobility Development is still able to rent go-karts to patrons, but it will not have the same charm it was able to offer before. Despite popular belief, the suit was not filled due to the go-karts being a public nuisance. In fact, MARI can continue to allow patrons to use their rented go-karts on the streets of Tokyo. Much like numerous recent legal battles Nintendo has been involved in, the purpose of the suit was solely to protect the company's intellectual properties. While go-karts on the streets of Tokyo may be a public nuisance, that was not the battle fought in court.
Some may see this as yet another way Nintendo is being the bad guy, but it has every right to take these actions against those who infringe on its copyrighted materials. The recent issues Nintendo has taken with the Smash Bros. community and certain video game soundtracks aren't on par with someone deliberately stealing Nintendo's IPs for profit. Could Nintendo have handled the situation a little less harsh? Sure, but that does not mean it was in the wrong for protecting against unfair competition.
Source: NHK