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Guitar maker claims Activition violated their patent |
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Written by Felix Da Silva (fdasilva@bitnip.com)
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Thursday, 13 March 2008 |
 Video game publisher Activision has asked a U.S. federal court to declare
that its popular "Guitar Hero" game does not violate a patent held by
real-guitar maker Gibson Guitar.
The dispute arose in January, when Gibson attorneys sent Activision a letter
accusing it of violating a patent titled "System and Method for Generating and
Controlling a Simulated Musical Concert Experience,"
Gibson is trying to get Activision to stop selling "Guitar Hero" until it
gets a license under the patent, according to the complaint filed on Tuesday.
According to Gibson's 1999 patent, it covers a virtual-reality device that included a headset
with speakers and that simulated participating in a concert, according to the complaint.
George Rose, Activision's general counsel, said in a statement,
We disagree with the applicability of their patent and would like a legal
determination on this. The patent does describe something that is very similar to Guitar Hero. However, why did they wait until Guitar Hero 3 before they file the complaint? That fact alone seems to me that Gibson had some ulterior motive to file the complaint other than to protect their patent.
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