Sony sues Bridgestone and Kevin Butler over Mario Kart Wii commercial

[Kugyince]

Jerry Lambert, the actor who plays the Kevin Butler character began appearing in Bridgestone Tire commercials a few months ago. More recently the company began running a Game On promotion where purchasing a new set of tires nets you a $70 American Express card or a Nintendo Wii.

http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2012_10/1369.jpg

Bridgestone commercial - Kevin Butler becomes VP of Betrayal - Videos - MetaTube (http://www.metatube.com/en/videos/151958/Bridgestone-commercial-Kevin-Butler-becomes-VP-of-Betrayal/)

Sauce: Kevin Butler becomes Vice President of betrayal in new commercial - Page 6 - NeoGAF

[Seahawk]

Court docs:

Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC v. Bridgestone Americas, Inc. et al (http://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/3:2012cv04753/258962/)

Reassignment of case to new judge in San Francisco area 9/20/2012 (http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/candce/3:2012cv04753/258962/8/)
Possible note of settlement 10/5/2012 (http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/candce/3:2012cv04753/258962/14/)

You'll hear more by Oct. 12.

Charges are claims of copyright infringement by BridgeSsone.

[Kugyince]

Sony Computer Entertainment America filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek, Inc. on September 11. The claims are based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship. We invested significant resources in bringing the Kevin Butler character to life and he’s become an iconic personality directly associated with PlayStation products over the years. Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from PlayStation misappropriates Sony’s intellectual property, creates confusion in the market, and causes damage to Sony. - Sony statement

Sony sues Kevin Butler actor (update: Sony comments) | VentureBeat (http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/06/sony-sues-kevin-butler/)