Knowing quite a bit about the world of Costa Rican grocery stores -- many of which started using "Hiper-" (spanish for hyper-) as a prefix in their names a few decades ago, to one-up markets merely named "Super-" [1] -- I'm actually quite suprised they didn't just rename themselves "Hiper Mario" and save the legal fees. But bravo to them for winning against all odds.
[1] https://ticotimes.net/2004/04/02/hipermas-supermarket-aims-f...
Nintendo continues to be petty assholes to ordinary folks around the world.
I don’t know many other companies with such a reputation of petty litigation with dubious claims.
> This legal victory is a testament to the determination of a small Costa Rican entrepreneur who stood his ground against a global corporation, proving that even the smallest of players can triumph in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
Oh, it's you, ChatGPT! I thought I recognized your distinctly bland style.
Related: Paraguay Loves Mickey, Its Cartoon Mouse. Disney Doesn’t - https://archive.ph/4E2Cj
I'm reminded of Caterpillar (tractors and some apparel, $50B revenue) trying to stop Cat & Cloud (coffee some apparel, <<$1M) from having a trademark. Despite their low revenue, it's a somewhat influential coffee shop due to their podcast and roasting, and also happens to be the closest cafe to me and my favorite.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/caterpillar-cat-cloud-coffee-...
It reminds me of that Mike Rowe kid that Microsoft threatened with legal action, because he had a domain for his web design business called MikeRoweSoft.com [0].
A nitpick, but should they really call it a clash of titans? Maybe rather David versus Goliath?
Nintendo would rather dump endless amounts of money into law firms, waste time, bully small time players; rather than invest their profits into the company and fixing their god awful network/servers/net code used for multiplayer on the Switch.
Glad they lost.
Previous conversation
There's a driving school called "Autoescuela Super Mario" on Lanzarote (Canary Islands). They're using a lot of Nintendo's branding (fonts, etc.). Somehow I can't imagine that Nintendo agreed to that though.
Reminds me of Nissan dot com lawsuit:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Motors_v._Nissan_Comput...
> “Although Nintendo’s registration covers 45 categories, it doesn’t include the specific class for suppliers of basic food products.”
If the market decides to start selling Nintendo or Mario products, could they get in trouble?
Does this prevent the market from expanding to selling other types of products even if they never sell a Nintendo or video-game-related product?
I can buy video game gift cards at my local supermarkets. (I'm aware my local law and definition of "supermarket" may not apply here.)
I live in Helsinki and there's a bar called "Super Bario" which always amuses me as a clever name. (Yes it does provide videogames and beers combined.)
They probably could have bought the market and its name and registered as a food company for far less than the legal fees.
This reminds me of the fight for nissan.com between a PC shop owner and Nissan the car company.
I just had a look at the site and (at least for me) the name is not resolved anymore (used to ba a landing page with the whole story)
Edit: it does now, but the original page is gone
Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42868220
Related, a compiled list of games made in Costa Rica:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedevcr/comments/3gwimk/la_gran_l...
Similar case:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41550417 Paraguay Loves Mickey, the Cartoon Mouse. Disney Doesn't
I miss super Josette markets
Would a plumber get in trouble if Mario, the owner, called it Super Mario?
It was cute for a decade; invent something new now, please, Nintendo.
I left a comment the other day about me loathing Nintendo nowadays and got downvoted. Well this is the kind of BS they pull that makes me hate them.
Suing people, getting fair use material removed from YouTube, fighting emulators and people who created them, charging ridiculous prices for old games... I'm pretty sure they are the bad guy.
cf Mickey S.R.L. in Paraguay
Pura vida
Is it just me, or does the super market's logo look AI generated?
Had breakfast in a Costa Rican supermarket once. Best breakfast ever. Unrelated,obviously.
Quite a few negative feelings towards Nintendo of America (NOA) in the comments. A lot of "evil Goliath" style comments.
I think they probably did the right thing. IANAL, but I'm pretty sure NOA has to defend its registration. "But this is for a small supermarket" you might argue. And in this case, you'd be right. But how can NOA tell the difference between a genuinely different registration, or someone trying to hijack their brand and putting up a fake website in hopes of lulling them into not objecting?
Answer: they could try all sorts of steps, including flying to Costa Rica to check the local situation. Of course, they could still be played, and an attacker could suddenly be legally allowed to use their trademark.
Or they could use exactly this process, which is meant to ensure that the registration is only awarded if it is sufficiently distinct. Which is what they did. I won't hate something or someone for using procedures as intended.
So, Nintendo of America, whose president is Doug Bowser, and who previously sued a Gary Bowser, had gone to court with a José Mario Alfaro González, who owns the supermarket chain Super Mario.
I'm pretty sure, at this point, they're just joshing us all.