Gaming giant Nintendo just lost a trademark battle to a teeny grocery store in Costa Rica. José Mario Alfaro González had the audacity to name his San Ramón de Alajuela shop "Super Mario." Never mind that in Costa Rica, "super" is just what everyone calls their local grocery store, and that the owner's actual name is Mario.
Nintendo's lawyers came charging in like an angry Bowser Jr., anyway, claiming they owned all the rights to "Super Mario," probably including the air molecules that form those words.
González's lawyer pointed out that Nintendo's 45 trademark categories didn't include anything about selling actual food to actual humans.
From The Tico Times:
"We knew these big companies have vast resources to fight, and we had to think carefully," said Edgardo Jiménez, Alfaro's legal representative. "We even considered changing the supermarket's name to avoid a lawsuit."
Costa Rica's National Registry agreed, telling Nintendo to go jump in a warp pipe.
Nintendo hasn't commented on their loss, but we imagine someone's throwing blue shells around their legal department right about now. As Jiménez put it, with what we assume was a victory-lap smirk, "We refuted all of Nintendo's arguments, demonstrating their errors and our rightful claim."
Previously:
• Atari files for trademark on Rogue, a 44-year old game it did not make and does not appear to own