Sony encountered a major setback today after LG landed a preliminary injunction banning the PlayStation 3 from sales in Europe. A civil court in The Hague ruled that any PS3s imported into the continent have to be confiscated by government officials for at least the next 10 days. The Guardian claimed that the Netherlands, often a point of import for all of Europe, had already taken “tens of thousands” of PS3s and that Sony stood to see hundreds of thousands of the consoles blocked from reaching shelves.
LG has launched a patent dispute over Blu-ray that has extended worldwide, including Europe and the US, and has used the PS3 as a tactic to push for a fast settlement.
Sony wouldn’t officially comment beyond saying it was investigating the causes behind the ban.
