Nintendo Loses Legal Battle With An Unexpected Super Mario – GameSpot
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A local super market in Costa Rica has triumphed over Nintendo in court.By
Blair Marnell
on January 29, 2025 at 8:29AM PSTWhen it comes to court battles, very few individuals would want to be on the opposite side of Nintendo. The video game company famously defeated Universal Pictures in a Donkey Kong-related case four decades ago, and it’s rarely lost a high-profile case. But now, there’s at least one man who can claim a legal victory over Nintendo: Don Mario. Well, sort of.As reported by Eurogamer, Don Mario is the owner of Super Mario, a local supermarket in San Ramón, Costa Rica. Nintendo seemingly left the Super Mario shop alone for years, and only opposed the store’s name when Don Mario had to renew the trademark with Costa Rica’s trademark authority, the National Register. Apparently, one of the reasons why Don Mario–and his son, Charlito–emerged victorious is that supermarkets are among the few Super Mario trademarks that Nintendo never bothered to register.”Thank you enormously to my legal advisor and accountant José Edgardo Jimenez Blanco who took care of the registration and the subsequent fight for the right to a trademark,” wrote Charlito Mario on Facebook. “For a moment, we thought about throwing in the towel. How were we going to win the [fight against] such a commercial monster? … Well… Edgardo and I stood firm and a few days ago we received the good news. Super Mario is here to stay.”As for Nintendo, the famously litigious company went after an alleged Switch pirate in court, and reportedly sent lawyers to visit Genki after it showed off a Switch 2 mockup during CES. Nintendo’s patent attorney Koji Nishiura also recently explained why the company believes some emulators are illegal.Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.comUse your keyboard!Log in to comment
