RedOctane and The Ant Commandos try to compromise

Lawsuits bring nothing but trouble, so it’s good that some companies fighting have stopped duking it out in the legal arena to have a spot of tea and some scones. This week, the companies chit-chatting  are RedOctane and The Ant Commandos, both members of the illustrious industry of videogame guitar heroics.

So what do these companies have to do with each other? Both of them make guitar controllers for the Guitar Hero series of games. RedOctane and Activision sent a suit to TAC for trademark infringements (on their PS2 guitar controller), while TAC decided to file a counter-suit alleging that RedOctane stole the guitar controller plans of TAC’s parent company, which were used to make controllers for the earlier Guitar Freaks games.

Instead of starting a full-fledged court battle, however, the two companies asked the judge if they could talk it over first. RedOctane and The Ant Commandos are apparently trying to compromise. Their joint motion states, “The parties are currently negotiating a potential settlement of this matter and have a reasonable, good faith belief that settlement may be reached within the next seven to ten days.” Whether that means we’ll have a meeting of the minds, healthy competition, or one less company making guitar controllers, there’s one thing you can be sure of.

“RedOctane and The Ant Commandos” sounds like a great name for a band.

Lawsuits bring nothing but trouble, so it’s good that some companies fighting have stopped duking it out in the legal arena to have a spot of tea and some scones. This week, the companies chit-chatting  are RedOctane and The Ant Commandos, both members of the illustrious industry of videogame guitar heroics.

So what do these companies have to do with each other? Both of them make guitar controllers for the Guitar Hero series of games. RedOctane and Activision sent a suit to TAC for trademark infringements (on their PS2 guitar controller), while TAC decided to file a counter-suit alleging that RedOctane stole the guitar controller plans of TAC’s parent company, which were used to make controllers for the earlier Guitar Freaks games.

Instead of starting a full-fledged court battle, however, the two companies asked the judge if they could talk it over first. RedOctane and The Ant Commandos are apparently trying to compromise. Their joint motion states, “The parties are currently negotiating a potential settlement of this matter and have a reasonable, good faith belief that settlement may be reached within the next seven to ten days.” Whether that means we’ll have a meeting of the minds, healthy competition, or one less company making guitar controllers, there’s one thing you can be sure of.

“RedOctane and The Ant Commandos” sounds like a great name for a band.