Nintendo stops sale of custom Etika Switch controllers made to raise money for suicide charity

“I had numerous back and forth with [Nintendo’s lawyer] in order to get my shop in compliance", Blake said.

(Alex Blake)

Nintendo has reportedly sent a cease and desist letter to fans making custom controller for Nintendo Switch consoles to raise money for a mental health charity.

In August a fan of the YouTuber Desmond "Etika" Amofah, who took his own life in 2019, started an Indiegogo campaign for a custom pair of Joy-Con controller cases for the console.

The crowdfunding campaign for the controller cases, which featured Erika’s logo and the logo for his “JoyConBoyz” community, was completed on its second attempt and had been sent to supporters.

Of each $65 pledge, 25 per cent would be taken as production fee while 65 per cent was donated to the JED Foundation, a nonprofit that “protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults”, according to its website.

Approximately 500 shells were produced, with 300 going to supporters of the campaign and 200 more on shopping website Etsy.

One month later, however, campaign organizer Alex Blake says he received a cease and desist letter from Nintendo for the use of copyrighted terms.

“You are on notice that your production, marketing, and sale of the Infringing Products, your use of Nintendo’s trademarks in connection with these activities, and your false association with the Nintendo brand violate Nintendo’s intellectual property rights”, the letter reads, according to a screenshot Blake posted on Twitter.

Nintendo demanded that Blake “cease all production, marketing, sale, and distribution” of the products or pay up to $150,000 (approximately £113,000) in damages.

The trademarks infringed included “Joy-Con”, “Nintendo Switch”, “MII”, “WiiFIT”, as well as the “POKÉMON” name and the name of the recent generation of its starter characters.

Nintendo did not completely shut down the manufacture of the shells, Blake says, but rather “had me remove some designs and I’m modifying most of them.”

“To my knowledge the only things that need to be removed are the words JoyCon and likely the split Nintendo Switch Logo surrounding these word”, Blake told The Independent, although said on Reddit that the company “didn’t specifically tell me why each design was taken down [but] they did include a list of copyrights my designs broke, and the word Joycon was on that list.”

Blake also clarified that while some believed that Nintendo issued a blanket cease and desist order for his Etsy shop, this is not the case.

"The Etika Joycons, or Etikons, were one of those links they attached. Along with the listing of their trademark for the word Joycon [sic] and the trademark for the switch logo. The Etikons are the only item I’ve ever sold with the word Joycon printed on them, so it’s abundantly clear to me that they were specifically referencing and targeting the Etika Joycons in this case, even though they did target other listings at the same time,” he told The Independent.

“I had numerous back and forth with [Nintendo’s lawyer] in order to get my shop in compliance. Our email chain ended with me asking for licensing, and her passing on my request to Nintendo. While I don’t expect anything to ever come of that request, it was nice that it was passed on instead of a flat denial.”

Users took to Twitter to complain about the response from Nintendo, with users saying that they hope the company reconsiders. 

This is not the only instance where there have been reports of Nintendo sending cease and desist letters to fans making custom merchandise using their properties. Adult entertainer Digitalprincxss - formerly known as Pokeprincxss – was reportedly issued with a cease and desist over references to the Pokémon brand. 

However, the entertainer believes that she was targeted for her adult work, and claims others have used the brand without such orders.

Recently, the company was also accused of shutting down a Super Smash Bros. tournament which could not take place in person due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The organisers used software to make the game playable online, but reportedly received a cease and desist for using “illegally copied versions of the game”.

“Nintendo therefore contacted the tournament organizers to ask them to stop. They refused, leaving Nintendo no choice but to step in to protect its intellectual property and brands. Nintendo cannot condone or allow piracy of its intellectual property,” the company added.

Nintendo and the JED Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.