LOS ANGELES (Kyodo) Nintendo Co. won a provisional court order Monday restraining the import and sale of counterfeit Nintendo video game systems at numerous U.S. shopping malls.
The U.S. District Court in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order in a suit filed by Nintendo of America Inc. against two companies, Nintendo's U.S. unit said.
Nintendo claims the hundreds of thousands of products look identical to Nintendo 64 game controllers and plug directly into televisions, allowing users to play dozens of illegally pirated Nintendo games, including Donkey Kong and Mario Bros.
The game maker said it has information identifying kiosks distributing the illegal devices in malls in more than 40 states in the U.S. and expects the losses from pirated consoles to be "in the millions of dollars."
"This action is one of many steps Nintendo is taking to protect its creative rights and to combat the growing international problem of product piracy," Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America's antipiracy director, said in a statement.
"Nintendo won't tolerate these illegal products," Daugherty said. "We'll aggressively protect the quality and integrity of the video game products our fans are so loyal to."
Officials of Nintendo of America, based in Redmond, Wash., said the pirated devices have been sold in massive quantities in the United States for the past several years and are believed to be imports from China.