Dbrand temporarily stops selling black side panels PS5 after Sony call

Dbrand, the accessory maker known for its smartphone skins and cases, is no longer selling its replacement PlayStation 5 side plates. Sony has sent a cease and desist letter to the company. Dbrand says he will comply with this ‘for the time being’.

Sony’s lawyers say in the letter that the dark plates “imitate Sony’s protected product design” and that Dbrand must stop the sale “immediately and permanently”. This letter is several months old, according to Dbrand’s response to Reddit. At the time, they did not respond because there was no reference to actually granted patents, according to Dbrand. Sometime recently, however, Sony’s lawyers reported that a patent has now been granted in Canada regarding the shape of the side plates. That’s why Dbrand is suspending sales for now. Dbrand already expected Sony to take such steps.

Sony currently only sells its console including white side plates, which are easy to remove. Parties like Dbrand are the only ones who can help consumers if they want something other than a white PS5. However, Dbrand suspects that Sony is planning to introduce black side plates for the PS5, which are available separately or included with the console. It bases that suspicion on the arrival of black PS5 controllers and a black Pulse 3D Audio headset; a black PS5 would be a logical sequel, they believe.

What Dbrand will do next, it does not say. The company only says that it will “enter into talks soon” with Sony. The product page for the panels now only contains a collection of news articles that chronicle the plates in parts. Via archive.org you can still see what Dbrand sold.