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Gibson: Guitar Hero Infringes on Patent
Gibson guitars have always been a part of the popular
Guitar Hero games. Since the game’s inception in 2005,
the official lineup of controllers has been comprised of two
SGs, an Explorer, a Les Paul and a Kramer Striker. In the
course of playing, if a player wants a new guitar for his
or her character, a virtual guitar store sports a full lineup
from Gibson’s family of brands. The second iteration of the
game came packaged with stickers that included a Gibson
logo and the third version featured a cartoon Slash – one
of Gibson’s favorite faces – wielding a Paul on the cover.
However, after three years of cooperation and sponsorship between Gibson and the makers of Guitar Hero, the
relationship has encountered a rough patch. On January
7, 2008, Gibson sent a letter to the game’s current developer, Activision, requesting that the company either stop
selling the games or obtain a license to a patent that
Gibson has held since 1999. A barrage of lawsuits ensued.
At press time, Activision had filed suit against Gibson,
insisting that the billion-dollar franchise does not
infringe upon Gibson’s patent and that Gibson
granted an implied license by allowing the
games to be developed and sold for three
years without contest.
On March 13, following Activision’s lawsuit, Gibson issued a statement saying
that the company, “encouraged Activision
to enter into discussions in an effort to
secure a conclusion to the matter. Instead,
Activision chose to release a public statement
to media and to file a lawsuit. Gibson Guitar
stands behind its claim in this matter.” The
statement went on to assert that Gibson,
“intends to vigorously defend its
rights and to pursue any rights it
may have against Activision and
any other persons.”
In this case, “any other persons” appears to be any company or retailer involved with
either Guitar Hero or its major
competitor, Rock Band -- a
game incorporating the same
technology as Guitar Hero, but
adding dedicated drum and vocal
peripherals. On March 21, Gibson
sued Viacom companies MTV Games
and Harmonix, along with distributor
Electronic Arts, the three companies responsible for Rock
Band. The same day, Gibson announced a suit against Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, Amazon.com, Toys ‘R’ Us and GameStop
to force the stores to pull the games from their shelves.
The patent in question spells out an idea for a “system and
method for generating and controlling a simulated musical
concert experience,” and describes the combination of playing a musical instrument, a head-mounted 3D display with
stereo speakers and a pre-recorded concert and soundtrack.
Gibson says that Guitar Hero and Rock Band use the patent, without license, for the games’ controllers. The patent
includes a description similar to the function of the guitar-shaped controllers: “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 playback device…” (For thosefluent in legalese,
refer to U.S. Patent 5,990,405)
Whether or not the patent covers the game’s peripherals lies
in the hands of the courts, but one thing is for sure; once
their current agreement expires, Gibson will likely not be
appearing on any future Guitar Hero games. According
to MTV News, Activision was not planning
to renew Gibson’s sponsorship agree-
ment and, in a March 10 letter to Gibson,
Activision’s lawyers insinuated that this was
the impetus for Gibson’s current complaint.
Representatives from Gibson declined to com-
ment on the litigation.
Gibson’s departure from the series may leave an
opening for competing guitar companies to
score a lucrative sponsorship – Guitar Hero
III has sold more than 14 million copies
in just over a year. Rock Band features
a Fender Stratocaster controller and
guitars from Fender and Gretsch
within the game.
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