Nintendo Loses Legal Battle to ‘Super Mario’ Supermarket

Japanese game giant with a $77.97 billion market capitalization has lost a legal battle against a small supermarket in Costa Rica named Super Mario. The case, which pitted Nintendo against a family-run business in San Ramón, ended in favour of the local shop. 

For years, Super Mario supermarket, owned by Don Mario and his son Charlito, operated without any interference from Nintendo. However, when Don Mario attempted to renew the trademark with Costa Rica’s National Register, Nintendo challenged the filing, citing their longstanding rights to the Super Mario name.

Despite Nintendo’s legal stance, the court found that supermarkets fell outside the scope of the company’s registered trademarks. Nintendo had never secured rights to Super Mario’s name in the supermarket industry, giving Don Mario the upper hand in the dispute.

While Nintendo is known for fiercely protecting its intellectual property, this marks a rare defeat for the gaming giant. Historically, the company has emerged victorious in high-profile cases, most notably in its 1982 legal battle against Universal City Studios over Donkey Kong. At the time, Universal claimed that Nintendo’s Donkey Kong infringed on their rights to King Kong. However, Nintendo’s legal team, led by John Kirby, successfully argued that Universal had previously stated in another lawsuit that King Kong was in the public domain. The court ruled in Nintendo’s favour, establishing a significant legal precedent and strengthening its position in the gaming industry. As a reward for his efforts, John Kirby’s surname became the namesake for the Kirby franchise.

Nintendo’s patent attorney, Koji Nishiura, has also publicly defended the company’s stance against emulation. The gaming giant has a long history of protecting its assets, including recent legal action against an alleged Switch pirate and a confrontation with Genki during CES.