Tokyo, Japan is home to local businesses that offer rides to tourists in go-karts, letting them see the sights from the seat of a small car. One of these companies took things further than just that, dressing up as Mario Kart characters, and even letting riders wear costumes as well. A majority of their webpage's marketing also revolves around showing off customers dressed in Toad, Luigi, Yoshi, and Mario cosplay. It goes by the name "MariCar", even sounding slightly similar to its inspiration. Of course, Nintendo wasn't going to stand for their intellectual properties being used without licensing, so early last year, they filed a lawsuit against the company, demanding that they remove all references to the Mario Kart series and characters. Over a year later, Tokyo's District Court has made a ruling in the case, siding in favor of Nintendo. MariCar, which has rebranded to MariMobility must pay $90,000 in damages to Nintendo, and can no longer use Nintendo's owned properties to attract customers.

Source

 

[Maq47]

They going after this guy also? LOL
View attachment 144851

I reported them to support just now.

 

[Smoker1]

I reported them to support just now.

LMAO. Yeah, was wondering if they were Authorized to use the Likeness and Name of Mario. If not........uh oh

 

[The Catboy]

Even though Nintendo is in the right and it's their IP, it still comes off as a bit of a dick move. Nintendo reminds me too much of Disney with how over the top they are with protecting their IPs.

 

[TehCupcakes]

I had friends who did this in Japan. That's a shame... Not that Nintendo won; that the company used the characters without obtaining legal license. They were obviously a legitimate and successful business, and being in Japan would have made it much easier for them to work something out with Nintendo. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo turned them down...

But trying to do it behind big N's back was obviously a recipe for disaster.

 

[Shadow#1]

Once Again they spent a lot of money on lawsuits instead of actually improving things... SMH

use of Intellectual property without proper licensing Nintendo had a right to sue and win they was warned more then once to remove it

 

[the_randomizer]

jesus christ is there anyone Nintendo won't sue?
not even cosplayers are safe from Nintendo's litigious cuntery

Name one person who was sued for cosplaying.

 

[Shadow#1]

jesus christ is there anyone Nintendo won't sue?
not even cosplayers are safe from Nintendo's litigious cuntery

This a company using intellectual property without licensing not a person "companys arnt people my friend"

 

[TurdPooCharger]

If a customer gets hurt go-karting, I think they're able to sue Nintendo for incurred bodily damages. Court argument would be along the lines of implicit sanctioning of that business by allowing the use of their IP.

It sucks, but it's what Nintendo gotta do to protect themselves.

 

[Deleted User]

Legally there is an issue (as I am sure people can see). This company is possibly marketing this activity by advertising the ability to dress up as Nintendo characters and drive around like they are part of a Nintendo game. It sounds like a fun activity, and I see no harm done, but that doesn't mean there can't be harm done.

First of all, if an individual was to be injured during one of these events (even if they weren't part of the activity itself, like an onlooker) they could very easily sue Nintendo instead of this company, either by misunderstanding or some other reason (I don't know the whole legal operation that goes on).

Second, this is Nintendo's IP. It would be like if I started offering phones that looked similar to Apple products, logo and all. People would see these phones and be gullible enough to believe that it is produced by Apple for a cheaper price and sold by a retailer. If not for liability concerns, it is entirely possible that Nintendo would shut this down in the interest of the consumer (I know, I know, very unlikely) not being led into believing this is a Nintendo run organization. This could also be an issue of Nintendo losing future business. If Nintendo were to do something like this in the future, and people had a bad experience with "MariCar" then they might look at this new activity negatively, even if they didn't believe the first one was run by Nintendo.

Finally, these people were definitely using this to get money for their own business. Like I stated earlier, this was most definitely marketed around the concept of being dressed like a Nintendo character driving around in themed carts. I could not possibly imagine they would have received the same amount of business that they most likely did, had they just offered "carting around the city". I am not saying that they made a fortune off of this, but I don't think it would have been as successful.

Morally this is a different story. It could have very much been that a company wanted to provide some fun for tourists and residents alike by providing an experience with characters these people may have been familiar with. It kind of sucks that Nintendo would have to shut this down (but they didn't completely shut it down). If they really cared about the business though and providing that fun attraction that so many of you seem to believe they were doing, they would pay for licensing and the like.

 

[AdenTheThird]

Ouch. Flashbacks to the MCA Universal lawsuit.

Ahh, the good old days of Shiggy and the gang...

 

[xs4all]

That's what happens when they have a bunch of old, out of date board of directors and associates running the company who are still stuck in the old ages.
Wonder what it will be like if they had a fresh modern age people running the place? Things would be difference I would imagine and more relaxed, listening to what the fan/public want instead of what they think what we want.

 

[Hells Malice]

They're obligated to protect their IPs.

Anyone thinking Nintendo is even slightly in the wrong here is a moron. This company had all the ability in the world to try and form a deal with Nintendo. Instead, they stole Nintendo's IP and used it purely for their own profits. Yeah the go-kart business is 100% in the right here, rofl. They should've gone through the proper channels rather than leeching off of another company's success.

 

[smf]

That's what happens when they have a bunch of old, out of date board of directors and associates running the company who are still stuck in the old ages.
Wonder what it will be like if they had a fresh modern age people running the place? Things would be difference I would imagine and more relaxed, listening to what the fan/public want instead of what they think what we want.

You'd have people without experience doing stupid things & they would still not allow this.

It sounds like you're hating on old people because you're powerless and you feel they hold the power.

 

[Taleweaver]

they may get separate divisions but where does the legal division get their money from

From the board of directors. But seeing how they won the case, you can just as easily turn this around and say that the creative team gets paid by money made from winning lawsuits.

jesus christ is there anyone Nintendo won't sue?
not even cosplayers are safe from Nintendo's litigious cuntery

The essential difference is that this is a company making profits based on another one's franchise.

You can cosplay as anyone you want, but as long as you aren't getting paid by someone not licensed by nintendo or otherwise harm their IP (say...make a free-to-share porn movie dressed as Peach), there isn't much they can do (and I'm not sure if they can do anything against the latter, TBH).

They going after this guy also? LOL
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TBH, this could be an interesting law suit. Part of this trial getting won is that it's a clear rip-off of the original concept (MariKar...it's not even trying to hide that it's basically mario kart). But while Mario is technically a plumber, nintendo hardly ever (never? ) portrayed Mario as being an actual plumber. Nintendo will have a much harder time claiming that this Super Mario guy stole their idea when they aren't using the "Super Mario as a plumber" idea themselves.
(or even worse: when nintendo at one point wants to make a game about Mario being a plumber, this guy has grounds to sue nintendo for stealing HIS idea ).

 

[xs4all]

You'd have people without experience doing stupid things & they would still not allow this.

It sounds like you're hating on old people because you're powerless and you feel they hold the power.

Yes I'm powerless, the same as you and everyone else on here, I don't always agree on the decisions they make but we are the little people and what can we do about it? not buy their product? they don't care because millions of other people will still buy their products.
At the end of the day, it's obvious they know what they are doing as the $$$ keeps rolling in for them.

 

[smf]

Yes I'm powerless, the same as you and everyone else on here, I don't always agree on the decisions they make but we are the little people and what can we do about it? not buy their product? they don't care because millions of other people will still buy their products.
At the end of the day, it's obvious they know what they are doing as the $$$ keeps rolling in for them.

Why do you need to agree with all the decisions they make? They make games, do you like their games enough or not?

 

[iMythD]

I've been twice.
Once before it was really known and then again this year. It was loads of fun, and being able to say I went Go-Karting on the streets of Toyko dressed as Bowser always turns heads. I really hope that this doesn't impact the business too much.

 

[Naster]

Remove Mario poster from your wall or Nintendo will come after YOU.

 

[Shadow#1]

Remove Mario poster from your wall or Nintendo will come after YOU.

U totally missed the point

 

[dimmidice]

Once Again they spent a lot of money on lawsuits instead of actually improving things... SMH

Yeah they shouldn't defend their own IP. How dare they!

Remove Mario poster from your wall or Nintendo will come after YOU.

Not even comparable. This was a business profiting off of another business's assets.

Ok, so a lowcost red/green cosplay and red/green karts are IP?
What's wrong?

What's wrong is it was illegal. Duh.