Dbrand continues to sell custom side panels for PS5 with modified design

Dbrand continues to sell side panels for the PlayStation 5, but those are now variants with a different design than Sony’s itself. Dbrand thinks Sony will still sue the company, but states that Sony has no basis for this due to the new design.

The new side panels, which Dbrand calls the Darkplates 2.0, have ventilation holes where the PlayStation 5’s fan is. According to Dbrand, this benefits the cooling of the console. The appearance of the panels has also been adjusted; these are now about the same size as the console itself and don’t stick out like the original Sony panels do. There are variants in black, white and gray.

Dbrand will be unveiling the new panels soon after the company announced it would stop selling its first version of the black side panels. They had the same design as Sony’s original panels, but with a different color.

Sony demanded that Dbrand completely stop selling side panels for the PlayStation 5, due to patent and trademark infringement. Dbrand writes on reddit that it still believes Sony will sue the company, but says there is no basis for infringement because the design has been changed. “If they want to try it, they’d better be willing to pay our legal fees,” the company said.

Sony already sent a cease and desist letter to Dbrand in September. The company that sells the modified panels also had the new version in development and on the shelf for some time. Dbrand, however, did not let that know when it announced that it would temporarily stop selling the dark side panels.