Custom PS5 faceplates are unlikely to be available for Christmas due to Sony’s pending patent on the design, forcing one accessory seller to pull the products from sale and cancel all pre-orders.
Sony released a PS5 teardown video in early October that was ruthlessly mocked by Xbox. Aside from showing players the expandable SSD options for the upcoming console, it also revealed that both of the PS5’s faceplates would be removable. This led to some players wanting custom PS5 faceplates for their console and at least one company was all to happy to oblige, but it’s since had to stop selling its product.
Pending patent pulls custom PS5 faceplates from sale
CustomizeMyPlates.com — formerly PlateStation5.com — had created a series of custom PS5 faceplates to let players add a little more style to their consoles. Unfortunately, VGC reports that the website has since been contacted by Sony, informing the custom plate maker that it had a pending patent on this aspect of the PS5’s design.
A “pending” patent means that Sony has filed the paperwork for a patent on the PS5’s faceplate but has not yet received approval from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Pending patents do not afford the applicant the same protection as an actual patent, but it serves as a signal to other parties that it may be granted by the government. In that case, any custom PS5 faceplates might infringe on Sony’s patent, prompting Sony to pursue legal action. As with most companies, Sony has filed multiple patents for the PS5 including one for the new DualSense controller and another for the console’s backward compatibility system. The DualSense patent, in particular, means that custom DualSense faceplates may also infringe on a Sony patent.
The existence of this pending patent and Sony’s warning to CustomizeMyPlates.com means that third-party custom PS5 faceplates aren’t likely to be available anytime soon. (Sony has not revealed any custom PS5 faceplates of its own, either.) The only legal avenue for manufacturing custom faceplates would be to get a license from Sony. It is, however, entirely possible that a third-party accessory company has already secured a license but has not yet revealed its products. If Sony or a licensed third party does not reveal custom plate designs soon, it may not be possible to glow up your PS5 in time for Christmas.
