PS5 custom plate manufacturers curbed following legal pressure from Sony
Several third-party groups including PlateStation have run into legal troubles with Sony that are forcing refunds and rebranding.
After Sony revealed that the PlayStation 5’s side plates are removable, it didn’t take long for websites to spring up offering third-party custom options for color and design swaps on the PS5’s sidings. It seems like a no-brainer for this to be a thing, but it seems Sony isn’t so ready to let it happen. Various legal actions from the PS5 maker have forced third-party entities to offer refunds and shift strategies or shut down and rebrand entirely.
It was back on October 23, 2020 reports of several third-party storefronts popping up arose, such as PlateStation, to offer custom PlayStation 5 side plate options. This was following Sony’s official teardown video that showcased the full disassembly of the PS5 down to its base components. That video showed that the side plates on the PS5 could be removed and reattached with relative ease, and it didn’t take long for these third-party vendors to pop up soon after to try to get their piece of the pie. A couple weeks later, however, the PlateStation website has been shut down entirely, with the company rebranding to Customize My Plates, as well as canceling orders and offering full refunds on custom PS5 plate orders.

Sony’s legal team has been on the move, according to spokespersons of Customize My Plates in a recent correspondence with IGN. Apparently, the patent and intellectual property laws associated with attempting to sell custom plates for the PS5 are too much legal trouble for a small manufacturer to navigate without issue of copyright infringement. Changing its company name from PlateStation wasn’t enough to satisfy Sony and following the issue, Customize My Plates has found itself issuing cancellations of all orders and refunds to all customers.
Custom plates for the PS5 still seem like an inevitable market, nonetheless. The PS5 is kind of an eyesore in its out-of-box white-plated form, but it would appear that anyone looking to crack that market open will have to be within Sony’s good graces to get things moving. Here’s hoping reasonable options come soon.
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TJ Denzer posted a new article, PS5 custom plate manufacturers curbed following legal pressure from Sony
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Sure, but those were an intended product, like New 3DS faceplates.
Best Buy doesn't sell stuff like the mods I used on my Switch, Pro controller and Joycon:
https://chattyfiles.objects-us-east-1.dream.io/files/IMG_20200512_204327_se2nrtbtx8.jpg
https://chattyfiles.objects-us-east-1.dream.io/files/IMG_20200417_161505_nled7s64cf.jpg
https://chattyfiles.objects-us-east-1.dream.io/files/IMG_20200412_234815_zwmm1q299v.jpg
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I'm surprised it's packaged in cardboard holders compared to how the XBSX is packaged with a foam liner and diagonal cut in a way it's quite presentable upon opening the box (you lift the cover and the console is cradled in foam). It's similar to how the RTX 3080/3090 RE was packaged. The PS5 is packaged like a router would be.
https://i.imgur.com/JemocFU.png
https://i.imgur.com/J0CTZwO.png
https://i.imgur.com/IvJlZ4Q.png
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the problem is it forcefully makes itself the centerpiece of the room. Which is not a great idea if you are a gigantic piece of dubiously shaped cheap plastic with blue led lights that complement few other typical living room installments. They could get away with it if it fit inside a regular tv cabinet, but it doesn't.
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Naming your company PlateStation and thinking you'll get away with it is an insanely boneheaded move from anyone with any business sense.
Like I get that Sony is being dumb here, but our legal system requires companies to protect their trademark proactively or they risk losing it in the long term. Sony going after the product concept is stupid, but picking PlateStation for the name really just set the whole thing up for failure.
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