Earlier this month, Gibson
accused Activision of its Guitar Hero
franchise violating several of the real-guitar makers’ patents. Activision
responded by asking a federal judge to declare that the Guitar Hero does not owe anything to Gibson’s patents.
U.S. Patent number 5990405
awarded to Gibson in 1999 reads, “A musician can simulate participation in a
concert by playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3D display that
includes stereo speakers. Audio and video portions of a musical concert are
pre-recorded, along with a separate sound track corresponding to the musical
instrument played by the musician.”
Gibson isn’t finished with just Guitar Hero, however, as it has also filed a patent infringement
lawsuit against those behind Rock Band
– Harmonix, MTV Networks and Electronic Arts – over the very same patent thrown
up against Guitar Hero.
“Gibson Guitar had made good faith efforts to enter into a
patent license agreement with the defendants in this case. The defendants have
not responded in a timely manner with an intent to enter into negotiations for
a patent license agreement,” read a Gibson press statement.
“Gibson Guitar had no alternative but to bring the suit, and it will continue
to protect its intellectual property rights against any and all infringing
persons.”
Besides going after the makers of the music-rhythm games,
Gibson is also launching an offensive against retailers selling such products.
Last week, Gibson brought a lawsuit against Wal-Mart, Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart,
Amazon.com, GameStop and Toys “R” Us for their sale of Guitar Hero games.
“Gibson Guitar took this action reluctantly, but is required
to protect its intellectual property and will continue to do so against any
other person in accordance with the law and its rights,” the guitar maker said
in another
statement.
Activision responded in a press
release to Gibson’s attack on retailers: “Our Guitar Hero retailing partners have done nothing wrong. We will
confront this and any other efforts by Gibson to wrongfully interfere with
Activision's relationship with its customers and its consumers.
“As Activision noted in its filing, Gibson waited three
years to make its patent allegations, and only did so after it became clear
that Activision was not interested in renewing its marketing and support
agreement with Gibson. Activision continues to believe that Gibson's claims are
disingenuous and lack any justification.”