Gibson's Guitar Hero Lawsuit Dismissed As "Frivolous"

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Gibson's Guitar Hero Lawsuit Dismissed As "Frivolous"


Activision [http://www.gibson.com/] has been dismissed by a U.S. District Court in California in a ruling that describing the action as "bordering on the frivolous."

Gibson launched the denied [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/82300] the claim and filed a counter-suit of its own seeking a summary dismissal, saying it would "confront this and any other efforts by Gibson to wrongfully interfere with Activision's relationship with its customers and its consumers."

From the start, the optics of the case were bad for Gibson, which had actually licensed its name to Activision for use in the original Guitar Hero in 2005 and didn't file the lawsuit until three years later, after Activision declined to renew the deal. A patent attorney speaking to E-Commerce [http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/62120.html] said at the time that the suit could succeed if Gibson could prove it was unaware of the infringement until just prior to the lawsuit, but "given the pre-existing licensing arrangement between Gibson and Activision such an assertion is implausible."

The court in California agreed, granting Activision a summary judgment denying Gibson's claims. "As a general observation, no reasonable person of ordinary skill in the relevant arts would interpret the '405 Patent as covering interactive video games," the court ruled, adding that Gibson's interpretation of its patent could be extended to cover things from a "button of a DVD remote... to a pencil tapping a table."

The language of Gibson's patent itself seemed to exclude Activision from infringement: It "disavows systems that either (1) do not involve 'actual operation of a musical instrument' or (2) use virtual reality-type control devices," both of which were declared to cover the Guitar Hero technology. The view of the court on Gibson's suit was also made quite clear in the ruling, which said in part, "Gibson's doctrine of equivalents arguments border on the frivolous."

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/2009/03/guitar-hero-court-does-not-infringe-gibson-guitar-patent-activision-los-angeles-district-court.html]




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JohnnyO

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Mar 3, 2009
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I found the full court filing online if anyone wants to read it. It's at Metue.com (link: http://metue.com/03-02-2009/activision-gibson-guitar-hero-patent-judgment/) or on scribd.
 

GyroCaptain

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Jan 7, 2008
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I'm glad to see this came to an end. I love Gibson's guitars, but their legal department got into this bit of crazy from being overgrown with nothing to do. Mind you, they needed a heavy legal team for the mid 90's trademark dilution stuff with all the import copies of their guitars, just not now. Good job failing to keep your department relevant, bozos.
 

thiosk

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Sep 18, 2008
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Is "bordering on the frivolous" still frivolous?

I mean, don't get me wrong, i bought stock in activision right when it hit its most recent bottom, so Im very satisfied with this ruling. However, bordering on the frivolous? is it frivolous or not?
 

maxusy3k

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May 17, 2008
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I think 'bording on the frivolous' translates to; "Okay, I see your point... but seriously?"