Today, the whole world learned about the magical company in Tokyo, Japan that allows people to rent Mario Kart-themed go-carts. Aside from that, the company also enables customers to wear Mario outfits for the full Mario Kart-inspired tours throughout the city. Unfortunately, that newfound advertising only comes because Nintendo has declared it is suing the company.
Nintendo Is Suing MariCar, A Japanese Company
As reported by AV Club, Nintendo has announced that it is suing a Mario Kart-inspired company known as MariCar. This legal action by Nintendo is said to be for copyright infringement that MariCar violated. According to its Facebook page, MariCar is already established and has been offering these unique tours since 2015. They also claimed that they are the best and "There’s no doubt that you will stand out in such vivid, unique Go-Kart!!”
The tours around the City can cost anywhere from $53 to $71 and are extremely popular. MariCar's FB Page, as well as its TripAdvisor account, have acquired over 4,000 positive reviews. However, Nintendo feels that it could cause uncertainty amongst the citizens who may believe that MariCar is affiliated with Nintendo. The firm said that they will continue to take steps to defend and protect the intellectual assets it has built over several years of hard work.
Is This The End For MariCar?
According to Gaming Respawn, Nintendo seems very much determined to protect their property, and with that, this may spell the end for MariCar in Tokyo, Japan. As of now, there’s no word on MariCar’s current situation. There's also no follow-up statement on how much money Nintendo wants to compensate the unfair competition as well as the copyright infringement.
It’s important to be reminded though that Nintendo is fully within their powers to pursue the suit, primarily as MariCar have not acquired any licenses to use the Mario theme. There are also no payment in any royalties and have profited considerably from their themed tours which are clearly based on Nintendo’s hit franchise. Nintendo said that they issued several warnings to MariCar but received no response.
