Summary
A Costa Rican supermarket with a recognizable name for gaming fans everywhere has won a major legal battle with Nintendo, allowing “Super Mario” to keep its name. Since the launch of the Famicom in Japan during the summer of 1983, Nintendo has grown into one of the most recognizable brands in not only gaming but the pop culture world as a whole. The developer has released numerous franchises that have become synonymous with gaming fromMarioandThe Legend of ZeldatoPokemon. Nintendo has also been notoriously protective of its brands and copyrights.
Nintendohas often used its legal strength to combat both fan projects and ripoffs of its properties to mixed results throughout its history. The developer has regularly submitted cease-and-desist orders to developers of fan games based on franchises likePokemonandMario, suggesting the games “damage” its brands. Nintendo even engaged in a high-profile lawsuit withPalworldlast year, claiming the developer infringes on Nintendo’s patents with regards to the game’s “Pal Spheres.” Now, however, Nintendo has found itself on the losing end of a lawsuit with a Costa Rican supermarket.
“Super Mario” Supermarket Wins Legal Battle With Nintendo
As reported by NintendoLife, a local supermarket in Costa Rica has taken a major win in a lawsuit from Nintendo. The aptly-named “Super Mario” supermarket in San Ramon, Costa Rice was recently allowed to retain the name the store has used for decades, as ruled by Costa Rica’s trademark authority, The National Register. The National Register ruled that, while Nintendo holds trademarks forSuper Marioacross several mediums, its trademarks do not specify supermarkets and grocery stores.
The massive victory for the local supermarket comes as the store only sports tenuous connections to the franchise. The Costa Rican grocery store,while boasting theSuper Marioname, does not use Nintendo’s branding or characters anywhere in its marketing. The store even sports completely different colors in its promotional and marketing material from the Nintendo franchise, using a blue-and-yellow color scheme. The loss serves as a major upset for Nintendo’s typical legal actions, with the store owner even suggesting the supermarket had “considered throwing in the towel” during the process.
Nintendo has spared no efforts to expand theMariobrand beyond its video game roots throughout recent years.The Super Mario Bros.Moviesaw massive success following its 2023 release, with the Illumination Studios animated film evencausing a spike in Nintendo Switch sales. Nintendo has also branched out into creating theme parks based on its franchises, with the developer opening “Super Nintendo World” attractions at Universal Studios in Osaka and Los Angeles. While Nintendo usually gets its way with legal battles, the “Super Mario” supermarket has shown even Nintendo isn’t infallible.
Super Mario
Super Mario is one of the biggest names in gaming. The first game in the franchise was 1985’s Super Mario Bros., a game that is credited with helping the gaming industry recover from its two-year crash that began in 1983.The Super Mario series still has an important place in gaming today, largely thanks to Nintendo’s ability to continuously innovate the platform games.
