Nintendo sues accessory company for leaking Switch 2 to sell more products

Accessory manufacturer Genki leaked the Switch 2 by showing off some peripherals for the console before it was publicly announced at the CES tech expo, and now Nintendo is coming after them for it.

Though the Switch 2’s existence has been known for a while now, the true first look at the console came not from Nintendo themselves, but from peripheral and accessory company Genki.

They showed a version of third-party peripherals they were developing for the console, with the company boasting about getting early access to the console that Nintendo didn’t give them. Genki even admitted it.

As a result, they’re suing the company for allegedly stealing early models of the console and using them to promote their product.

Nintendo sues Genki for leaking Switch 2

Though the Switch 2 has only been officially revealed for around a month at the time of writing, it’s surely been in the hands of devs for much longer.

Third-party support is a huge focus for Nintendo this time around, and, in order to bolster that support, getting dev kits in the hands of the people working on those games is essential.

However, Genki wasn’t on the list. The only way for them to get the console and release detailed renders of what the final version actually looks like would be to illegally acquire specs for the console.

As a result, Nintendo is throwing the book at them and taking them straight to court.

The full lawsuit depicts several screenshots of Genki teasing the Switch 2 months before Nintendo’s official reveal, using the console to entice customers. They also used their peripherals on a model of the Switch 2 console to promote their product, and had designs ready for the moment Nintendo announced it.

Nintendo is suing them on the basis that they not only got access to the Switch 2 design when they shouldn’t have, but also that they’re trying to actively compete with them by loading the deck and confusing customers into believing Genki was directly partnered with them.

“Because Genki was not authorized by Nintendo to access pre-release models of Nintendo’s newest console, it is unlikely that Genki ever had access to an authentic Nintendo Switch 2, belying its representations otherwise to the public. In that case, Defendant misrepresented to Nintendo’s fans that it could provide compatible accessories with the Nintendo Switch 2,” Nintendo of America claimed.

“Because compatibility with the Nintendo Switch 2 is certainly a threshold requirement for consumers seeking to purchase accessories for use with the Nintendo Switch 2, this misrepresentation is material to consumers’ purchasing decisions.

“Unless these acts of Defendant are restrained by this Court, they will continue, and they will continue to cause irreparable injury to Plaintiff, to the public, and to Nintendo’s consumers for which there is no adequate remedy at law.”

Nintendo

After this, Nintendo outlined everything they’re suing Genki over: Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, Federal False Advertising, California Common Law Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition, and Statutory Unfair Competition Under California Law.

Nintendo of America is demanding that Genki not only cease making accessories for the Switch 2, they’re also trying to revoke all their rights to distribute products for the Switch 2. Anything else they have in stock should be destroyed according to Nintendo.

Additionally, they’re pursuing “corrective advertising” to ensure people know what the first-party Nintendo products are, they want Genki to pay all of Nintendo’s legal fees, and they’re demanding all profits gained from what they view as false advertising be directed toward Nintendo.

It’s worth noting that this suit still has to be seen by a trial and Nintendo isn’t guaranteed to win. There’s also a chance that they opt to settle out of court instead. At the time of writing, all of Genki’s Switch 2 products are still live on their site.