ALL - Activision's Guitar Hero Violates Patent: Gibson

PlayStation News by Lyndon M STAFF 57 days ago
guitar hero activision gibson ps3

Activision may be wondering if someone stuck a big sign on their back saying "sue me" when it comes to Guitar Hero. First it was Harmonix laying down the suit over royalties. Now, Gibson has entered the fray, claiming the game violated one of their patents. Activision has already responded and asked the courts to dismiss the claim as invalid.

Which patent are they talking about? Apparently, Gibson patented in 1999 the concept of pressing buttons on a guitar shaped controller in time to notes played on screen. Sound familiar? Gibson provided a copy of their patent and a request for Activision to either obtain a license from them or halt sales of the Guitar Hero series.

Activision, for its part, is keeping quite calm and respectful on the matter as they say Gibson has been a great partner to them and they have much respect for the company. They also say by not speaking up sooner (it has been three years since the first Guitar Hero game) Gibson has granted an implied license to the technology.

We'll update as more information comes in.

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