Nintendo 'Extremely Disappointed' with Flash Card Ruling, Will Appeal

Earlier this week, a French court ruled in favor of the DS Flash card manufacturer Divineo Group in a stunning decision against Nintendo. While the Kyoto-based developer said they were “reviewing the judgment,” it clearly didn’t take them long to decide to appeal.

“Nintendo is extremely disappointed with the decision by Paris Criminal Court to find Max Louarn, his company, Divineo, and other co-defendants not guilty in the criminal case involving the sale and distribution of game copying devices,” reads a statement by Nintendo. “Nintendo welcomes the prosecutor’s decision to appeal the judgment. As a victim Nintendo will join his appeal.”

"The Divineo France company had already been prohibited by a Hong Kong court to manufacture, market or export products intended to circumvent Nintendo’s technical prevention measures," the company noted. "In 2008, the Hong Kong court handed down two judgements ordering Max Louarn and Divineo France to pay Nintendo 44,605,082 euros ($65.6 million) damages. Nintendo is yet to receive these damages and is seeking enforcement of the judgements through the court at Avignon.”

"Nintendo maintains that infringement of its intellectual property rights, on its trademarks, software, its technical prevention measures and its videogames is causing damage to the whole videogame industry, preventing developers from gaining the full benefit of their hard work and creativity, but also to the customers who expect the highest standards and integrity from products bearing the Nintendo name," concluded the release.

This decision isn’t too much of a surprise – Nintendo has always been highly protective of its systems and litigious against things even remotely associated with piracy, so they weren’t going to take this ruling standing down.