Nintendo receives $ 450,000 after winning the trial against a Mario Kart street karting company

Surely you’ve ever imagined what it would be like to participate in a Mario Kart-themed kart race. The popular Nintendo arcade games are one of Mario’s great sagas. Many have tried to copy the formula and adapt it to other Nintendo arcade games, products, or even services. That is the case of Maricar Street Kart, owned by Maricar Mobility.

It is a service focused on street kart racing, using different limited areas of the city of Tokyo to compete. It is a prevalent activity in Japan, especially among Mario fan groups, Nintendo. And characters related to the famous plumber in the video game industry.

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Wear these t-shirts, sweatshirts, and even license plates based on Mario Kart.”

The problem is that it offers costumes based on Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and other characters. As well as karts decorated with Mario Kart motifs and other games in the series. And all this without any official license or agreement with Nintendo. It was a matter of time before the “first party” took place … and it has been.
Nintendo has won the lawsuit brought against Maricar Mobility. With compensation of $ 450,000 to be paid by the karting company. That expects since, in 2018, Nintendo already sued Maricar for using Mario and Luigi suits. Using official logos of the saga and personalized items without an official license or rights. Maricar ignored and has continued to benefit from a juicy brand but plagiarized and obtained this recognition without paying this license.

Maricar’s plagiarism regarding the official Nintendo product is so vast. Until 2018 the service had the same name as the famous video game sub saga, Mario Kart. Following the lawsuit and subsequent warning (though not immediately), the company changed the name to Street Kart. It significantly reduced the number of Mario and Luigi costume rentals. However, there are records that it continued to do so for at least several months.

The judge has found the karting company guilty of plagiarism and infringement of registered rights. Forcing it to pay $ 450,000 to Nintendo as a penalty. A year and a half ago, Maricar had to pay Nintendo $ 92,000 (10 million yen). But during the last year, he has continued his business the same way, without fear of another possible sanction.

That represents another victory for Nintendo, which has faced two other plagiarism cases in recent weeks. The first is related to an imitation of its Nintendo Switch console, Danica Smith. And the second copied patent is very similar to Wiimote de Nintendo Wii.