EUROPEAN PLAYSTATION 3 SHIPMENTS SEIZED BY CUSTOMS

Sony and LG have been going toe to toe with allegations of patent infringement for over a year now, but Sony's now been dealt what's surely its biggest setback to date in Europe. The civil court of justice in the Hague has just granted LG a preliminary injunction that will see all new PlayStation 3s imported into Europe confiscated by customs for at least ten days. Those are apparently now already being stockpiled in Dutch warehouses while the drama plays out, and there remains a possibility that the injunction will be extended even further, which would almost certainly lead to a shortage of PS3s on store shelves -- as the Guardian notes, retailers generally have two to three weeks worth of stock on hand across the continent. Not surprisingly, Sony is said to be "frantically" trying to get the ban lifted, but it isn't making any public comments on the matter at the moment.