Tokyo District Court has ordered a Mario Kart-themed tour company to pay $89,000 ( ¥10 million) in damages to Nintendo.
For $80 a trip, MariMobility - also known as MariCar - offered themed street tours of the Japanese capital in life-size Mario Kart vehicles and costumes.
Nintendo filed a suit against the company last year citing copyright violation. Besides damages, the killer blow for MariCar is the order to stop using Nintendo’s IP in its product.
Tokyo District Court ordered Mari Mobility Dev., previously MariCar, to pay ¥10 million in compensation and stop using Nintendo-related outfit. The street go-cart company operates services in Japan, and Nintendo was complaining it was damaging its "Mario Kart" franchise.
— Takashi Mochizuki (@mochi_wsj) September 27, 2018
Red shell blues
MariCar had also been facing scrutiny over incidents involving tourist drivers crashing into locals.
At the time of writing, MariCar’s website still advertises its services with photos of customers donning Nintendo-themed costumes.
Nintendo has since released a statement reinforcing its commitment to protecting its brand and intellectual property.
“In order to protect our valued intellectual property that we have built up over many years of effort, we will continue to take necessary measures against infringement of intellectual property including our brand," read a statement from the company.
