Nintendo sues MariCar for IP infringement

Tokyo

NINTENDO Co is taking the fight to protect its intellectual property to the streets.

The Kyoto-based games giant on Friday filed a lawsuit against MariCar Inc, a Tokyo-based company which lets customers dress up as Nintendo characters like Super Mario and Luigi, sticks them in go-carts and leads them on driven tours through the streets of Japan's capital. MariCar is among a handful of companies offering the services popular mostly with tourists, and their impromptu cavalcades have in years past become a common sight in Tokyo's neighbourhoods such as Shibuya and Harajuku.