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Unofficial "Real-Life" Mario Kart Company Ordered To Pay 5 Times More
In 2017 social media was peppered with images of tourists riding around Tokyo streets in go-karts and dressed up as various Mario characters, strongly resembling the likes of Mario Kart. With the service being unlicensed (and in some cases dangerous), Nintendo quickly stepped in and sued Mari Mobility (formerly Maricar) for their Street Kart service, initially winning in 2018. After an unsuccessful appeal and an attempt to clean up their act, the situation has become far worse.
After rebranding and swapping out all Nintendo references with various superhero ones, Mari Mobility hoped to reduce the damages owed to Nintendo, a sum of 10 million yen (around $92,000). The appeal has backfired, however, with Mari Mobility losing and ordered to pay five times the damages, now totaling 50 million yen ($458,000), according to the Japanese website Inside Games (via Kotaku).
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/un.../1100-6473177/
After rebranding and swapping out all Nintendo references with various superhero ones, Mari Mobility hoped to reduce the damages owed to Nintendo, a sum of 10 million yen (around $92,000). The appeal has backfired, however, with Mari Mobility losing and ordered to pay five times the damages, now totaling 50 million yen ($458,000), according to the Japanese website Inside Games (via Kotaku).
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/un.../1100-6473177/