SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE LTD. Vs. HARMEET SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is suit for permanent injunction, restraining infringement of copyright, infringement of trademark, passing off, rendition of accounts, damages, delivery up etc. Counsel for the plaintiff submits that plaintiff is an affiliated company of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. and it carries on business and handles the research and development, production and sales of both hardware and software for the PlayStation line of handheld and home consoles which include PlayStation game console, the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, the Play Station Potable handheld entertainment system, PlayStation3 system and PlayStation Vita handheld entertainment system. The plaintiff has also introduced various hardwares and softwares to be used on the PlayStations and other home entertainment systems. The plaintiff had also launched amongst others Uncharted : Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves, Uncharted 3 : Drake's Deception God of War, Resistance, Killzone, Infamous, Gran Turismo, amongst other games as well.

(2.) Counsel for the plaintiff submits that defendants are selling the home entertainment systems of the plaintiff by making modifications and up-loading pirated soft-wares in the form of games to the computer, by which the copyright of the plaintiff has been infringed. It is also submitted that plaintiff is the registered proprietor of various trademarks, details of which have been extracted in the plaint. Counsel has also explained in the plaint, how the defendants systematically un-lock the system and modify the original equipments of the plaintiff and make it ready for use with the pirated soft-ware. It is also submitted that the defendants are using a soft-ware known as 'Jailbreak' with a view to breaking the encrypted code on the original machines and making them ready to be used for up-loading all pirated games which are also being provided by the defendants at an extra cost. This act of overriding the encrypted code by introducing the Jailbreak software amounts to circumvention of Technological Protection measures which in turn violates the copyright of the plaintiff in software of its operating system. Counsel for the plaintiff also submits that circumvention of technological protection measures has also been recognized by Copyright Amendment Bill which was passed by the Parliament on 17th May, 2012 and is currently awaiting notification. The effect of this illegal act of the defendant is primarily two folds:

(3.) Issue summons in the suit and notice in the application to defendants, returnable on 12.09.2012.