Lik-Sang forced out of business

Lik-Sang, the retailer that sells Japanese and US gaming consoles in the UK, is shutting down.

It follows a judgement in the High Court of London which renders Lik-Sang's sales of imported PSP consoles unlawful due to copyright and trade mark infringements. It meant that plans to sell the new Playstation 3 to UK customers prior to its release in Britain could not be fulfilled.

Lik-Sang emailed its customers this evening cancelling all current orders and pre-orders. Refunds will come over the next few days, it said.

In a bitter announcement, the company, which was unhappy that it would no longer be allowed to sell imports into the UK, said: "Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels."

A Sony spokesperson claimed the company took legal action in the interest of consumers: "We're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera."

Lik-Sang strongly disagreed with this claim: "All PSP consoles were in conformity with all EU and UK consumer safety regulations," it said.