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  (Source: South Park Studios)
Gibson says that it owns the idea for Guitar Hero

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.

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well....
By Gul Westfale on 3/13/2008 10:08:52 AM , Rating: 6
“A musician can simulate participation in a concert..."

if they have a patent on that then britney spears, christina aguilera, every boy band ever, and a lot of other so-called "musicians" must owe gibson a lot of money lol.




RE: well....
By FITCamaro on 3/13/2008 11:08:35 AM , Rating: 2
Well said.


RE: well....
By BruceLeet on 3/30/2008 4:40:52 PM , Rating: 2
RE: well....
By napalmjack on 3/13/2008 11:36:09 AM , Rating: 5
Absolutely deserves a 6...if you would have left the 'lol' off at the end.

We'll call it 5.5.


RE: well....
By techyguy on 3/13/2008 11:39:15 AM , Rating: 2
“A musician can simulate participation in a concert by playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3D display"

Are they going to sue teens for playing Air Guitar?

What about someone suing Microsoft claiming they have a patent for simulating card playing. That would be as stupid as watching someone playing air guitar through 3D simulated beer goggles.

Gibson must of been loosing a few sales due to Activision. Do they they they can regain sales by suing Guitar Hero, but alienating consumers?


RE: well....
By napalmjack on 3/13/2008 3:50:41 PM , Rating: 2
Why not? They've been alienating their customers for years.


RE: well....
By derwin on 3/13/2008 5:11:20 PM , Rating: 2
dont you think that GH would actually bost gibson sales? If someone goes out and shreds a guitar hero gibson, maybe they will want to actually try a real one out.


RE: well....
By derwin on 3/13/2008 5:11:48 PM , Rating: 2
gah! Edit buttons!

*boost*


RE: well....
By paydirt on 3/14/2008 8:57:16 AM , Rating: 2
The description of the Gibson patent is too specific (LOL) and says wearing speakers and some kind of 3D goggles. Case dismissed, patent too specific.


RE: well....
By kkwst2 on 3/13/2008 11:42:28 AM , Rating: 5
6?

"You see, most blokes will be playing at 10. You’re on 10, all the way up, all the way up...Where can you go from there? Nowhere. What we do, is if we need that extra push over the cliff...Eleven. One louder."

"Why don’t you just make 10 louder and make 10 be the top number, and make that a little louder?"

"............These go to 11."


RE: well....
By BruceLeet on 3/13/2008 12:52:38 PM , Rating: 5
Whatever, Backstreet boys melt your faces off I dare you to disagree

You are...my fire, the one...desire


RE: well....
By Evocati on 3/13/2008 1:35:47 PM , Rating: 1
hahaha


RE: well....
By Future145 on 3/14/08, Rating: 0
RE: well....
By Future145 on 3/14/08, Rating: 0
RE: well....
By afkrotch on 3/14/08, Rating: 0
Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By SirLucius on 3/13/2008 10:30:11 AM , Rating: 4
This just adds to the list of reasons that I hate Gibson. Overpriced guitars, shoddy quality control, and now this.




RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By Vanilla Thunder on 3/13/2008 11:44:53 AM , Rating: 2
How true, how true. Thousands of misguided youth spending thousands of dollars on poorly assembeled, cookie cutter guitars. Support your local luthiers, or drop mine a line. www.myspace.com/crowhillguitars. For what you would spend on a Gibson, you could have a hand assembled, custom guitar made in the USA. Touched by only one man's hands. Unbeatable. BTW, my guitar is the profile pic, and in the "new shoe" album.

Vanilla


RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By BruceLeet on 3/13/08, Rating: -1
RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By jeff834 on 3/13/2008 1:10:32 PM , Rating: 5
I'm getting real damn sick of the argument "why play GH when you can play a real guitar?". Why stop there? Why play Madden when you can so easily join the NFL? Why play Need for Speed when you can get a real car and go out and street race? Why play Call of Duty when you can pick up an assault rifle and go fight in a real war? Video games are simulations, plain and simple. I'm a big fan of the guitar hero franchise and it has made me want to go out and buy a guitar to learn, but if you have spent even 2 seconds playing GH you know it is very different from playing a real guitar. Hm let me think, I can pick up GH and in an hour I'm able to play some of my favorite songs from some great bands, or I can get a real guitar and in a minimum of 6 months to a year I can play the same songs poorly. I do plan to get a real guitar myself, but I have never had any musical talent and when you play GH you can have fun without hours of practice every day.

According to you I have to spend $3000 for a decent guitar, GH cost me $60...tough decision.


RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 3/13/2008 1:26:25 PM , Rating: 3
Right on! I love Guitar Hero III on my Wii and it is ALWAYS a big hit when all of my friends get together and play.

Duking out with two guitars in Battle Mode is some of the best fun I've had gaming.


By Le Québécois on 3/13/2008 3:31:28 PM , Rating: 2
Just a question, do you know if they fixed the mono "problem"(not playing in stereo) yet with the Wii version? I'm still waiting for that to buy it.


RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By BruceLeet on 3/13/08, Rating: -1
RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By Le Québécois on 3/13/2008 4:06:23 PM , Rating: 4
Typical "Superiority complex"...

It's a game...to have fun. He never said he learned how to play the real thing by playing GH.

While I have yet to buy it, I think it's really an amazing game and have plenty of friends who decided to buy a real guitar after playing GH because they though it was fun and that "maybe" playing the real thing could give them a good dose a fun too.

Now before you coin me as a typical gamer... I play the Guitar, Piano and Saxophone and while I'm not a master, I think I'm well placed to see the difference and still say that GH is a great GAME!


RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By BruceLeet on 3/15/2008 1:48:34 AM , Rating: 1
You're french, no wonder you have no standards


By Le Québécois on 3/15/2008 5:04:31 AM , Rating: 3
And you my good sir are rude and ignorant.

First of all, were you able to read French or even just know about North-American cultures, you would know that Le Québécois simply means "someone who lives in Quebec", the second biggest province of Canada(you know to big country north to the states...). My ancestors (coming from France, there's no need to deny that fact) first came here in the 1680(310 or so years ago if you can't do the math) so I'm pretty much as close as you can get from being one of the first modern North-American(non native)...to be more precise Canadian or to be even more precise, French Canadian. While my roots are French, I'm no more French than a someone from the USA is British or any other place they might have come from.

Now to the point, the fact that you're being "racist" toward the French only confirm my first assumption of you suffering from some kind of superiority complex. Be it toward video gamers that like to play GH or other culture in general.

Now if you would excuse me, I have a Hockey game to watch on the TV...


RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By Shadow Conception on 3/13/08, Rating: 0
RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By saiga6360 on 3/14/2008 11:14:44 AM , Rating: 2
Stop this incessant blathering already. Yeah sure, YOU would rather play a real guitar but guess what, not everyone wants to or will ever have the same kind of interest. If anything, videogames like Guitar Hero may actually spark their curiosity and give the real thing a try, so stop trying to make it out to be such a bad thing.


By Shadow Conception on 3/14/2008 6:36:22 PM , Rating: 2
My last paragraph pretty much addressed what you said. The whole thing was an opinion, I have a right to "blather" if I want to without your permission.

Y'know, I'm not gonna change what I think because you're uncomfortable with it. I myself think GH is not as great as real guitar, but I would never intend to pass it off as fact. I know it's a fun game.

I mean, turn on the lightbulb. Half of comments on articles are opinions. You should've been smart enough to figure out mine was as well?


By Polynikes on 3/13/2008 9:37:37 PM , Rating: 2
I thought the same thing you did before I played the game, as I am a guitarist as well. Of course, once I played it I realized it was actually fun and enjoyed it for what it was, a simulation. Don't get me wrong, playing a real guitar beats it hands down, but as far as video gaming goes, GH and even more so, Rock Band, are a lot of fun, especially when played with other people.


By just4U on 3/14/2008 12:46:57 AM , Rating: 2
My cousin owns 7 guitars and has been in a band for 12+ years. Yet he likes to play guitar hero to. He said you can accually learn a few things about changeups and such because of the game (does that make sense? maybe he meant somthing different) Anyway he also said there were songs in there he'd never thought to ever learn before.. but he's picked them up because of the game. SO even some musician's find it fun to.

I've never played it myself.. watch people all the time and that's entertainment enough!


RE: Yet another reason I hate Gibson...
By bodar on 3/13/2008 4:16:43 PM , Rating: 1
What I have heard regarding the problems with Gibsons (yes ACTUAL Gibsons) is that their quality control is inconsistent at best. Check out guitar forums and you'll see this is the case. Your Gibson must be one of that percentage with no defects. However, when you are dropping serious money on an instrument, things like poorly filed frets or neck problems should not be an issue.

http://forums.birdsandmoons.com/forum/showthread.p...

Also, as another poster clearly pointed out, you miss the entire point of video games, so STFU.


By theapparition on 3/14/2008 9:37:00 AM , Rating: 2
I've owned almost every major brand of guitar imaginable (easily over 100 guitars in my lifetime). My least favorite, by far, was the Gibson Les Paul series. Fret buzz, incapable of holding tune and poor ergonomics killed it for me.
My favorites, are my custom built electrics, Ovation acoustic-electric, and Martin acoustic.

That's just me though, and maybe someone with different playing styles will like something else.


By Vanilla Thunder on 3/20/2008 10:20:58 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
All that being said dont go judging a company because you bought the express-way factory production line made model(Epiphone = Bush league) instead try playing a $3000 dollar Les Paul through a tube amp, not a solid state.


You sir, are a moron, or can't read. I DO NOT play an Epiphone. As stated in my post, I play a custom made electric, by Crowhill guitars. I have NEVER played an instrument that holds a candle to it. And I've played way nicer guitars than a $3000 Gibson LP. I've played $9,000 Les Pauls, and PRS's, and more vintage gear than you could shake a stick at. I also don't play through a solid state amp. I have a '72 Twin Reverb, and a Mesa Boogie Mark II running through a 4X12" cab with Jensen Greenbacks. So go preach to someone else. Gibson is a waste of your money.

V


The heck?
By dflynchimp on 3/13/2008 9:52:33 AM , Rating: 3
Since when were the Guitars for GH "Musical Instruments"?




RE: The heck?
By KernD on 3/13/2008 9:59:29 AM , Rating: 2
Yea sound like there patent is more about inserting your real guitar playing in a recorded concert and letting you live the virtual experience, it's not a game at all.


RE: The heck?
By stirfry213 on 3/13/2008 12:51:31 PM , Rating: 2
I guess a keyboard isn't a musical instrument either since without electricity, it makes no sound on its own...

Think man, think


RE: The heck?
By slacker57 on 3/13/2008 1:56:29 PM , Rating: 3
I'd be inclined to say that, no, a keyboard is not a musical instrument. It's an emulator. Just think about what a keyboard sounds like. It sounds like a piano or a trumpet or whatever else it's programmed to sound like. There's no real keyboard-specific sound.


RE: The heck?
By bodar on 3/13/2008 4:24:35 PM , Rating: 3
GH guitars cannot play songs, since there are only 5 buttons. Pressing the button with correct timing just tells the game to play the sound byte associated with that particular "note". If all notes are hit with the right timing, the entire song plays. It's a controller shaped like an instrument, not an instrument. Consider that you can play the entire game with the standard console controller. Is that an instrument now?


RE: The heck?
By AlphaVirus on 3/13/2008 4:28:34 PM , Rating: 2
Next we will have Boeing suing Microsoft for flight sim, United States and (insert other countries) suing Sid Mier for Civilization, and while we are at it NASA should sue Nintendo for Super Mario Galaxies space exploration.

Just because a video game includes something from real life does not mean you own patent rights or royalty payments against it. Its called a video game for a reason.


Isn't it funny
By AlexWade on 3/13/2008 10:26:55 AM , Rating: 3
Isn't it funny how when something becomes popular, suddenly some company comes out and says "HEY! We've go patents on this!" Or, if they are really evil, they will have patents and push to ratify a standard like it is royalty free. Then, when it is adopted, come out and say "HEY! Pay us!" That is what Rambus did.

Fortunately, the courts shot down Rambus and nullified their patents. Now Rambus is an afterthought. I just wish the courts would tell all these patent monkeys out there that if you don't claim your patent in a reasonable amount of time, it is your own fault. We need to stop having companies wait until something is profitable before they claim back royalties.

I would give more leeway to individuals who patent something, but they still need to claim they own the patent within a reasonable amount of time. I want to patent something and I obviously don't have the resources to produce a product based on my idea. And I don't have the time or the wherewithal to make sure some company isn't using my idea. So I should have more time to claim my patent than a company but I still have a finite amount of time to claim my patent. I know this is asking a lot from the government, but common sense must come into play.




RE: Isn't it funny
By FITCamaro on 3/13/2008 11:12:50 AM , Rating: 2
Rambus's patents were nullified I believe because it was determined that they intentionally withheld knowledge of the patents they were trying to sue for from the other memory manufacturers.

Rambus is still very much alive though. XDR memory is used in the PS3.


RE: Isn't it funny
By hduser on 3/13/2008 12:54:51 PM , Rating: 2
Rambus collects money on SDRAM, DDR, and DDR2 just not as much as they hoped as the FTC imposed a limit on how much they can collect because of their lack of "forthrightness". So those patents are valid.


RE: Isn't it funny
By FITCamaro on 3/13/2008 1:06:46 PM , Rating: 2
There you go. I was just saying Rambus isn't gone. They're just not the giant they hoped to be.


RE: Isn't it funny
By hduser on 3/13/2008 1:48:32 PM , Rating: 2
Understood, just wanted to clarify that the patents are valid. I just wish someone else would use XDR in the PC environment whether it'd be graphics or main memory. It seems to have a lot of bandwidth and the latency and power consumption has been lowered.


RE: Isn't it funny
By hduser on 3/13/2008 2:07:08 PM , Rating: 2
Well you got the whole "Rambus is evil" story down. They weren't nearly as bad as you have lead to believe. There are 2 sides to the story. In the end Rambus did truly revolutionize the memory bandwidth but they were their own worst enemy when they didn't pull out of JEDEC when it appeared that the proposed SDRAM was based out of ideas already used on Rambus at the time. So in the end Rambus got what it deserved or what it didn't deserve. We as consumers did benefit with faster memory. Otherwise, we'd be stuck with Micron's EDO memory speed.


RE: Isn't it funny
By Alexstarfire on 3/13/2008 4:40:07 PM , Rating: 2
Yep, that's what makes our patent and/or legal system so messed up. The fact that they got licenses from Activison should null and patent infringement that may or may not have occurred. Gibson knew for a LONG ass time that Activision Blizzard was going to be making Guitar Hero. Well, at least before the public knew. They should have said something then about it if they really cared about the patent. Which it seems obvious that they don't since they waited until Guitar Hero became really popular.

Come to think of it, patents just get lamer and lamer every year. They are only really useful in a handful of situations. Other than that it's just stifling innovation and technology. Especially the patents that can be used today, but aren't because the filing party can't make a product that uses said patent.


That's the thing with patents...
By killerroach on 3/13/2008 9:59:35 AM , Rating: 2
...selective enforcement.

Something tells me Activision did something that Gibson didn't like, hence the dropping of the patent bomb.

That being said, all this will probably do is accelerate Activision's efforts to pimp the Guitar Hero series around.




RE: That's the thing with patents...
By TheSpaniard on 3/13/2008 10:23:51 AM , Rating: 4
absolutely!

why isn't ROCKBAND under the same cross-hair?

and whats with two companies now pressing against Activision?


By Sulphademus on 3/13/2008 11:20:57 AM , Rating: 2
Isn't it Blizzion or Actitvizzard now?


By robinthakur on 3/13/2008 12:29:15 PM , Rating: 2
Clearly, nobody remembers Quest for Fame starrring Aerosmith and that fake purple guitar pick thingy by IBM for the PC...Good times.


Anything is possible...
By SpaceRanger on 3/13/2008 11:45:30 AM , Rating: 2
Listen, someone sued for spilling a cup of hot coffee on themselves, and won. Anything is possible.

Gibson could win this. It's sad but true.




RE: Anything is possible...
By crimson117 on 3/13/2008 1:39:37 PM , Rating: 4
The coffee thing was more complicated than you are making it out to be. Here are all the McFacts:

http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm


RE: Anything is possible...
By Alexstarfire on 3/13/2008 4:34:11 PM , Rating: 2
OK, makes a little more sense, but it's still retarded as hell. Also love the fact that they mentioned two elderly women as injured parties. I'm curious to see those 700 incidents that they mention and see there age and gender.

I'm never going to change my mind that it was a stupid lawsuit. Coffee is obviously hot, it doesn't matter to what degree it is hot too. Spill it and suffer your own consequences. It's not like the employee spilled it on her lap, did he/she?


RE: Anything is possible...
By SpaceRanger on 3/13/2008 5:02:19 PM , Rating: 2
Exactly.. A very well-presented site.. Stupidity, none the less ensued..


Greedy
By Edison on 3/13/2008 11:18:21 AM , Rating: 3
Gibson has historically been greedy. In 2004, they upped their retailer buy-in to $50,000 per calendar year to try and eliminate some of the "mom & pop" music stores and open the door to Musician's Friend, Music123.com, Guitar Center and similar "big box" music stores to be the exclusive dealers of Gibson guitars. I see no difference here - they are wanting to cash in even more on the GH series because of it's feverish popularity. You likely won't see them attacking "Rock Band" over this - why you ask? Simply because the included guitar with "Rock Band" resembles a Fender Stratocaster verses any of the Gibson models...it utilizes the same technology, that is if you are going to equate the Gibson patent with the game play experience of GH and whatever virtual reality concert simulator game Gibson had a hand in developing that somehow never hit a mass market like GH.

They already are an accomplished guitar manufacturer - their products are great, don't get me wrong, but I guarantee there is some sort of a bad deal on the horizon for both companies - either way I bet Konami will find other manufacturers who are jumping at the chance to get their product replicas marketed with the successful game.




RE: Greedy
By Edison on 3/13/2008 11:20:21 AM , Rating: 2
Sorry - Where I said Konami, I meant Activision. Simple Mistake.


By phxfreddy on 3/13/2008 8:19:27 PM , Rating: 2
Anyone who knows anything about the tech business first hand knows that patents only protect those who can afford the herd of lawyers it takes to defend them. That eliminates the small guy. And the big guys? Somehow as an engineer who's been around I have seen people claiming to have invented this and that but with all good ideas they generally float in the air and many people think of these same ideas. Thus in summary I think the patent system should be done away with. Especially when you consider a fiction writer can be better protection of some crappy hollywood film than they can of a patent covering something like cold fusion should it ever become a real thing. I think this pretty much paints a clear picture of powerful interests protecting their clout all the while saying they are for the little guy!...( sound like a dem to you ? )




By jpat34721 on 3/14/2008 11:10:46 AM , Rating: 2
As an engineer whose been around, you should know better. The purpose of the patent system to to enhance innovation by encouraging disclosure. Without the protection a patent provides, inventors would guard their secrets and advancement of the state-of-the-art would be slowed to a crawl. And there are plenty of cases where the little guy has prevailed- remember the guy who patented intermittent windshield wipers? He sued the major manufactures who stole his idea and won back royalties on every car that been sold with them to the tune of a half a billion dollars.
The patent system needs to be strengthened (make it harder to get a patent but easier to defend one) not weakened.


Doesn't seem the same to me
By UppityMatt on 3/13/2008 9:49:22 AM , Rating: 2
"playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3D display that includes stereo speakers."

Last i checked you don't wear any head-mounted 3d display. Seems to be a patent in a different area. Am i wrong on my interpretation of this?




Sounds like
By rdeegvainl on 3/13/2008 9:56:52 AM , Rating: 2
A load of crap. So they licensed guitar designs for guitar hero, for years. Now they realise that it is such a cash rake they are out for more money. Seems like they didn't even know that they had this patent. Were they really intending to use that patent? or were they just holding it for a situation like this? It stinks like a load of crap to me.
I'm all for a patent system, but something needs to be changed.




Greedy Gibson
By KernD on 3/13/2008 9:57:11 AM , Rating: 2
There just after some money, they never sued Konami who has been making guitar playing games for more than 8 years. They must have heard that GH generated great revenu for Activision...




Damn our Patent Office
By Bioniccrackmonk on 3/13/2008 10:13:14 AM , Rating: 2
This is another prime example of someone thinking of something and filing a blanket patent to catch someone down the road that actaully makes it a real item through R&D and then swoops in to capitalize on that companies work. This should not be allowed.

OCZ better be careful with their new product as I am sure that some A-Hole has already patented the idea of the brain, and not the brain from Waiting but the human mind, to be used for input signals to the computer.




this will never hold up
By omnicronx on 3/13/2008 10:58:33 AM , Rating: 2
Something gives me the feeling the game 'frequency' which is guitar hero without the guitar was in development before this patent so its not like the idea of the game was his. I also really doubt the controller patent will hold either, as its just a game controller in the shape of a guitar, it adds nothing other than anesthetics to a console controller. i.e button pressed, signal sent to system. This is not a feature like force feedback.

I am really interest in how this one turns out..




Such a crock...
By callmeroy on 3/13/08, Rating: 0
RE: Such a crock...
By Lightnix on 3/13/2008 1:24:41 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, it's really quite sad to see how scavenging some companies are, and how their 'yeah well we thought of it and didn't tell anyone' actually seems to work.

I feel as though companies should have to show signs of actually using a patent or make a press statement of registering that patent in order to keep the right to have that patent registered.

Hey, I should patent a system like that...


Its Simple
By gric111 on 3/13/2008 2:08:29 PM , Rating: 2
Gibson more likely then not figured the game would flop, or at least not be anywhere near as big as it is, now that the thing is HUGE, they are seeking royalties, or discontinued sales and production it being a huge game of course activision will fight it and pay if they have too long story short gibson just wants money




Greedy Bastards!
By sh3rules on 3/13/2008 2:15:24 PM , Rating: 2
According to Wikipedia the owners are Henry Juszkiewicz and David H. Berryman. I'm not sure Orville Gibson would've approved of this.




By jpat34721 on 3/13/2008 2:49:32 PM , Rating: 2
The patent abstract quoted in the article means noting. In patent disputes all that matters are the claims. If you read the claims section of the patent (use google patent on the patent number), you'll see that in each case, the "musical instrument" is defined to produce an audio output. Since GH controllers produce only digital outputs, they are in the clear.




Wow...
By Polynikes on 3/13/2008 9:38:57 PM , Rating: 2
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.




Tap-tap-tap, tap, tap-tap
By Integral9 on 3/14/2008 12:02:21 PM , Rating: 2
The sound the GH Guitar makes with the music off:
tap-tap-tap, tap, tap, tap-tap.

'Wow, that's some pretty amazing stuff their kid.'




"If you look at the last five years, if you look at what major innovations have occurred in computing technology, every single one of them came from AMD. Not a single innovation came from Intel." -- AMD CEO Hector Ruiz in 2007









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