A Nintendo of America (NOA) spokeswoman said her firm filed for a...
A Nintendo of America (NOA) spokeswoman said her firm filed for a new “Punch-Out” trademark April 1 with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (CED April 14 p7) because it is “maintaining our rights in this long- standing franchise.”…
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She said “the timing” of the renewal arose from the March release of Electronic Arts game Fight Night, which she said includes Super Punch-Out on the version for Nintendo’s GameCube. Separately, NOA said the FBI arrested 4 Chinese nationals in N.Y. for allegedly distributing videogame consoles containing Nintendo’s game software. More than 60,000 illegal products were seized by the FBI in 5 raids April 13. The illegal products, marketed under brand name “Power Player, contained “dozens of pirated versions” of popular Nintendo games including Donkey Kong, Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. During Sept.-Dec., the defendants imported 27 cargo containers holding more than 280,000 counterfeit videogame systems, according to the FBI. In meetings with undercover FBI agents posing as toy distributors, defendants revealed warehouse locations and information on distribution. Following arrests of those 4 defendants, the FBI ran searches in Queens, Brooklyn, N.Y. and Maple Shade, N.J., NOA said, calling the raids “the latest in a long line of criminal actions that Nintendo is currently supporting.” In another FBI action this month, a Minn. defendant pleaded guilty to copyright infringement; he faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the firm said. The firm pegged its 2004 piracy-related losses at more than $860 million. Worldwide, authorities in some 30 countries have seized 1.56 million counterfeit Nintendo products in 536 actions, Nintendo said. The firm itself has “terminated about 194,730 copies of games uploaded to the Internet and 75,452 auctions of counterfeit products.” In Oct., Nintendo won a preliminary injunction against kiosk owners in Wash. selling hardware units with built-in multiple counterfeit NES games. In China, 5 people received prison sentences and fines for manufacturing millions of counterfeit Game Boy game cartridges. NOA said the latter “breakthrough case marked the first time a counterfeiter of Nintendo products received a prison sentence in China,” once a haven for software pirates. In Taiwan, the owner-pres. and several employees of Yudian were convicted on all counts of criminal copyright and trademark offenses, Nintendo said.