Recently, the People’s Court of Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province and the People’s Court of Zhonglou District, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province issued the first batch of Nintendo Switch cracking bans in China, ruled an electronic game store in Guangzhou and an electronic product firm in Changzhou to immediately stop produce and sell pirate Nintendo Switch. It is understood that these two bans are the first batch of domestic lawsuit bans involving the cracking of game machines.

On December 10, the domestic licensed version of Nintendo Switch, exclusively distributed by Tencent in mainland China, was officially launched on official channels. Later, through consumer reports, Tencent found that many stores were making and selling pirated versions of Nintendo Switch. By welding chips on the original authentic game machine, the merchant changed the original circuit structure and operating system, so that the game machine can run pirated games, so as to earn the difference of the price. In response to the above situation, Tencent filed the lawsuits against a number of shops in Guangzhou and Changzhou.

The Yuexiu District Court held that the sale of modified Nintendo Switch products by a certain electronic game firm in Guangzhou without permission violated the principle of good faith that operators should follow in their production and business activities, which has disrupted the order of market competition and harmed the applicant’s legal rights. Accordingly, the Court ruled that it should immediately stop selling pirated Nintendo Switch.

The Zhonglou District Court held that the Nintendo Switch-related business operated by the applicant is well-known. It will be difficult to control the infringement if the behavior preservation measures are not taken in time. Based on this, it ruled that an electronic product firm in Changzhou immediately stop producing, selling, and advertising pirated Nintendo Switch.