One would assume that Gibson, makers of fine guitars, and
Activision, publisher of the Guitar Hero franchise, would have a good
relationship with each other. After all, Activision licenses classic Gibson
guitar designs such as the SG, Xplorer and Les Paul as templates for various
Guitar Hero controllers.
It seems, however, that Gibson isn’t at all satisfied with
the arrangement it has with Activision. Gibson has sent a notice to Activision
declaring that the games publisher is infringing upon the guitar maker’s patent
for a concept similar to Guitar Hero.
U.S. Patent number 5990405
awarded to Gibson in 1999 read, “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.”
The abstract continued, “Playback of the instrument sound
track is controlled by signals generated in the musical instrument and
transmitted to a system interface box connected to the audio-video play back
device, an audio mixer, and the head-mounted display. An external bypass switch
allows the musician to suppress the instrument sound track so that the sounds
created by actual playing of the musical instrument are heard along with the
pre-recorded audio and video portions.”
Gibson, after evaluating its patent, appears to be set on
going after Activision for licensing or a halt of the sale of Guitar Hero
games. “Based on our preliminary analysis, the 'Guitar Hero' software
(including any expansion packs) and the guitar controller provided by
Activision being used as a musical instrument (packaged with the software or
sold standalone) are covered by the ... patent,” Gibson's law firm said in its
January 7 letter, copied by Reuters.
“Gibson requests that Activision obtain a license under Gibson's ... patent or
halt sales of any version of the 'Guitar Hero' game software.”
Oddly enough, the concept of a video simulation paired musical
instrument peripheral first appeared in 1999 from Konami’s arcade game Guitar
Freaks. Activision has supposedly licensed several patents from Konami for use
in Guitar Hero III.
Nevertheless, Activision does not feel that it owes any
conceptual credit to Gibson outside of guitar designs and has requested that a
U.S. District Court deem the patent invalid. “Gibson is a good partner, and we
have a great deal of respect for them. We disagree with the applicability of
their patent and would like a legal determination on this," Activision
general counsel George Rose said in a statement.
Activision also pointed out that Gibson’s lack of action in
the three years of Guitar Hero’s existence granted an implied license for any
technology.