Dbrand no longer selling PS5 faceplates after Sony threatens legal action
Selling faceplates for the PlayStation 5 seems to be a lost cause. Last year, a storefront called PlateStation, which was selling customized faceplates for the PS5, was forced to stop after threat of legal action from Sony. A few months later, Dbrand, known for their tech decals decided to get in on the market, by offering their own black faceplates called "darkplates" for the console, even going so far as to joke about the matter by advertising them and saying, "go ahead, sue us" to Sony. The latter took it seriously, as they've done just that. A cease and desist order was issued by Sony to Dbrand, which resulted in the latter being forced to remove their PS5 faceplates from sale; if you now attempt to visit the store page link for them, it redirects you to a list of news reports specifically about Dbrand taking the darkplates off the market.
Quotes from the letter were posted by Dbrand's marketing team to the brand's subreddit, with a breakdown of the incident from their point of view. Sony alleges that the shapes used on the darkplates infringe upon their trademarked PlayStation face button symbols. Dbrand clearly uses a cheeky spin on the PlayStation look by using the same square, circle, triangle, cross look: a cross-shaped skull and bones, a circular radioactive symbol, a square robot head, and a triangle with a rune in the center. That isn't the only issue with the darkplates, though, as further on in the letter, Sony's legal team mentions that "the two vertical faceplates has become exclusively associated with [Sony] in the minds of consumers, and has come to symbolize considerable goodwill", meaning they find the sale of third-party faceplates to be an issue regardless.
Source: Legal document (courtesy of Vox Media)
