The long-standing feud between Sony Computer Entertainment and import specialists Lik-Sang took a further twist today, with confirmation that a judgement in the High Court of London has declared sales of the PSP to the UK and European Economic Area illegal.

The legal battle between Sony Computer Entertainment and Lik-Sang dates back to August 2005, when the console manufacturer launched a lawsuit in the High Court of Hong Kong insisting that Lik-Sang were advertising Sony's products in a dishonest manner and unlawfully interfering with Sony's economical interests. In addition, a separate lawsuit was also issued in the English courts for selling PSPs to consumers throughout Europe and the UK, and also for mirroring freely available PSP user guides on the servers.

Lik-Sang maintain that the Hong Kong laws surrounding parallel trade are clear and that the company has no ties with the UK and associated laws. The judge presiding over the action, however, ruled that UK law should apply to Hong Kong exporters.

Currently it's unknown whether the ruling will have any impact on the export of PlayStation3 and other PlayStation products, though Lik-Sang have suggested that Sony Computer Entertainment have threatened to initiate another lawsuit to seek an injunction preventing this.

Lik-Sang are currently exploring the legal options available and analysing the consequences of the ruling to their business.

"Fighting multiple lawsuits in different countries at the same time and paying high premiums to expensive lawyers is an overwhelming situation for a small company like Lik Sang. Launching separate court actions with separate claims and different judges is completely unnecessary, except for the fact that it helps reaching one single target: outspend Lik-Sang to death. Pay beyond", said Pascal Clarysse, Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com, clearly annoyed by the unfair situation. "And contrary to their claim, I don't believe they are suffering 'losses and damages' through Lik-Sang's activity".