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Short answer: Sony won an undefended English High Court case against Pacific Game Technology (Holding) Ltd., the company behind Hong Kong retailer Lik-Sang, on October 18, 2006. Six days later, Lik-Sang announced that it would stop taking orders and close, blaming multiple Sony lawsuits. Sony denied that it had directly caused the shutdown. “Sony sued Lik-Sang out of business” is therefore fair shorthand for the sequence of events, but it was not a court order or a formal finding that Sony forced a liquidation.
The six-day sequence
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| October 18, 2006 | The High Court of Justice issued its formal judgment for Sony in KK Sony Computer Entertainment & Anor v Pacific Game Technology (Holding) Ltd, [2006] EWHC 2509 (Pat). |
| October 24, 2006 | Lik-Sang published an “Out of Business Notice,” stopped accepting new orders and announced refunds and other customer support measures. |
| October 25, 2006 | Sony disputed Lik-Sang’s account, calling the announcement “sour grapes” and saying Lik-Sang had not contested the UK case or paid substantial costs. |
Some contemporary reports referred to an October 9 ruling. October 18 is the date on the published reasoned judgment; the earlier date reflects reporting about the decision or its scope.
The judgment is available at BAILII.
What was Lik-Sang?
Lik-Sang was the trading name associated with Pacific Game Technology (Holding) Ltd., a Hong Kong-based online retailer. It specialized in parallel importing: buying authentic products intended for one territory and reselling them in another without using the manufacturer’s authorized distribution channel.
For European gamers, that could mean earlier access to Japanese hardware, different software releases and products that were unavailable or delayed in Europe. Lik-Sang sold games, consoles, accessories and electronics internationally, using a business model built around regional price and release-date differences. Contemporary legal coverage describes the company and its model in Pinsent Masons’ account.
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This was not one Sony lawsuit
The 2002 Hong Kong proceedings
Sony had already pursued Lik-Sang-related defendants in Hong Kong in 2002 over mod chips, modified PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles, circumvention devices and related trade-mark issues. That proceeding, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc and Another v Lik Sang International Ltd and Others, HCA 3583/2002, was materially different from the later PSP import case. The reported case record is available through vLex Hong Kong.
The 2005–2006 UK PSP case
The case that immediately preceded the closure announcement began with UK proceedings in August 2005. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. challenged Lik-Sang’s offering of genuine PSP consoles intended for the Japanese market to customers in the UK and elsewhere in the European Economic Area (EEA).
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Territorial intellectual-property rights
Sony’s claims covered registered trade marks, registered designs and copyright. The allegations concerned the marketing and sale of Japan-destined PSP consoles in the EEA without Sony’s consent, including rights in software, menu icons, packaging or surface design and manuals.
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This was not primarily a counterfeit-goods case. The PSP hardware was described as genuine Sony product. Sony’s position was that authenticity did not give a reseller permission to move goods across protected regional markets.
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Exhaustion in plain English
“Exhaustion” limits an intellectual-property owner’s control after goods have been placed on a relevant market with that owner’s consent. Sony argued that Japanese-market PSPs had not been placed on the EEA market with the consent needed to exhaust Sony’s European rights.
The High Court accepted that reasoning on the evidence before it. It found no express or implied Sony consent to the Japanese products being marketed in the EEA. The legal commentary at Oxford University Press’s Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice characterizes the dispute as a parallel-import and exhaustion case.
Why a Hong Kong website was relevant in Europe
Lik-Sang argued that its operation was based in Hong Kong. The court nevertheless found that the website was directed toward UK and EEA customers. Indicators included English-language pages, pound-sterling prices, European-language material, UK customer testimonials, promotions aimed at European buyers and a test purchase shipped from Hong Kong to the UK.
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What the High Court decided
In KK Sony Computer Entertainment & Anor v Pacific Game Technology (Holding) Ltd, claim HC 05 C02121, the Patents Court granted Sony relief for infringement involving the Japanese-market PSPs and the asserted trade-mark, design and copyright rights.
The action was undefended at the final hearing: Lik-Sang’s legal entity did not appear. Sony asked for a reasoned judgment rather than relying only on a default judgment, partly to assist enforcement and deter similar conduct. That distinction matters. This was a formal High Court judgment, but not a fully contested trial in which both sides’ evidence was tested equally.
The ruling did not declare that every grey import of every Sony product was unlawful, nor did it order Lik-Sang to close. It addressed the specific products, rights, markets and evidence in that case.
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On October 24, Lik-Sang said multiple legal actions by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. had forced it out of business. Its notice said the store would stop accepting orders, cancel and refund existing orders, work with banks and PayPal on store-credit refunds, and continue handling returns, repairs and shipping problems.
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The notice was reproduced contemporaneously in an AnandTech forum archive; GameSpot’s October 25 report covered the closure and Sony’s response. The public record establishes the sequence and Lik-Sang’s stated reason, but not a separate court-ordered liquidation process.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Sony’s response and the disputed safety argument
Sony rejected responsibility for the shutdown and said Lik-Sang had chosen not to contest the UK action while failing to pay substantial awarded costs. Sony characterized the closure statement as “sour grapes.” It also said its litigation was intended to protect European consumers from hardware that might differ from officially distributed European products.
Sony cited possible electrical or voltage differences, compatibility issues with European PlayStation software or video formats in later products and the absence of Sony warranty coverage. Those were Sony’s stated concerns, not a court finding that every PSP sold by Lik-Sang was unsafe or incompatible.
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Lik-Sang disputed the rationale, saying the PSP units it sold used genuine Sony 100–240V adapters carrying CE and other safety markings and complied with applicable UK and EU requirements. Those claims were part of Lik-Sang’s response, not an independent ruling on every unit.
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The employee-purchase controversy
Lik-Sang also alleged that senior Sony Europe employees had bought PSP hardware or software from the retailer before Sony sued. Sony replied that such purchases were investigative and criticized Lik-Sang for disclosing customer information. The allegation should remain attributed to Lik-Sang; the available contemporary material does not establish it as an adjudicated fact.
Why the case mattered for the PS3 and grey markets
The judgment arrived as Sony prepared the European launch of the PlayStation 3, following its Japanese and North American releases. Contemporary coverage interpreted the Lik-Sang action as a warning to retailers considering grey-market PS3 imports. The Register reported that broader industry context.
That interpretation is useful, but it remains contemporary expectation rather than proof that stopping PS3 imports was the lawsuit’s sole motive. The case’s legal holding was narrower: Sony established infringement on the facts of Lik-Sang’s targeted EEA sales of Japan-intended PSPs.
So, did Sony put Lik-Sang out of business?
Sony won the English legal action, and Lik-Sang announced its closure six days after the formal judgment. Lik-Sang expressly blamed Sony’s litigation and the resulting financial exposure; Sony denied causing the shutdown and pointed to the undefended case and unpaid costs.
The most accurate conclusion separates sequence from causation: the sequence is documented, while causation is contested. Sony’s legal campaign materially contributed to the conditions under which Lik-Sang stopped trading, but “Sony directly shut it down” is shorthand—not a finding that the court ordered the retailer to cease business.
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