Gibson: Activision’s Guitar Hero violates patent

Activision is definitely taking the hits nowadays. First it was Harmonix lodging a royalty suit with the company – now, Gibson Guitars, maker of fine musical axes for those of us ready to rock, has just filed a patent suit with them. It seems that the Guitar Hero franchise is infringing on one of their patents, made back during 1999. Check out all the details in the full article.

It seems that everyone is hopping on the bandwagon in terms of sticking it to Activision. First, it was Harmonix with the royalty suit – now, it’s Gibson Guitar Inc, claiming that the Guitar Hero franchise has infringed one of their patents. Activision has responded to this, of course, asking a US court to declare the claim invalid.

What patent is being violated, you ask? Gibson stated that the game violate a 1999 patent where players press buttons on a guitar-shaped controller in time with notes on a TV screen, to simulate a musical performance. Which is pretty much what Guitar Hero is, actually, now that we think about it. Coincidence, maybe? In any case, Gibson provided a copy of their patent, as well as requested that Activision either obtain a license from Gibson or halt the sale of the Guitar Hero titles.

To their credit, Activision’s keeping cool about the entire deal. Besides asking that the claims be thrown out of court, they noted that Gibson is a good partner and that they have a great deal of respect for the guitar-making company. They also pointed out that by waiting for three years to raise its claim, Gibson had granted an implied license for any technology. If they’ve filed earlier, then it wouldn’t have been an issue.

Well, here’s hoping that this little legal hub-bub gets tied up soon. Updates as we get them.